Nightmare Man
by Sardixiis
Summary: Nightmares are powerful things. They take your worst moment and show it to you over and over. You can't escape. Take that worst nightmare and make it 100 times worse. Living hell. That's what he's trying to do, find something to create that. Who better to test it on than the people who see living hell in their waking hours? Also has a sequel.
1. Chapter 1 The Nightmare Begins

**Nightmare Man**

Author's Note: Hey, guys, I'm finally back! I bring you Nightmare Man. When I first thought of the idea for this story I was super excited about it. Unfortunately it got shoved to the back burner as I was working on other ones. When I finally had a chance to pick it up again, my inspiration for all but the dreams was a little shot. This means you will likely find gaping holes in it. Unlike my other stories, both sides (rescuer and rescuee) aren't really shown. On another note, this story is dark, and gets darker as the dreams go on. I'm pretty sure I managed to keep it to T, but one chapter is questionable. Hopefully someone out there will enjoy it minus its flaws.

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Chapter One – The Nightmare Begins

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner knew that working for the FBI had risks. There were times when the people they were after gained the upper hand. Even within his own team, there had been instances when an agent was at the full mercy of an unsub. In fact, two members of his team had been taken hostage or abducted at the same time before. Sometimes it had just been the unfortunate luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Other times it had resulted from a bad decision.

As Hotch looked around the dank little room at the four of five members of his team chained wrist and ankle to a wall like he was, he couldn't help wondering where he'd gone wrong. Five members of the BAU in the hands of an unsub meant he'd made one colossal mistake somewhere. He just had no idea where, and the fact that he had a pounding headache didn't help his thought process. They had worked the case in New York and caught the guy they were after. Hotch had no doubt at all that it was the right guy, so how the hell had this happened?

Off to his left, David and JJ were chained about three feet apart and still unconscious. There was no way he could reach them. While the chain on his wrist was long, presumably so he could lie down, the one on his ankle was only about two feet. Dave and JJ were at least ten feet away based on his estimation. Chained to the wall opposite Dave and JJ, Morgan was also unconscious. Hotch didn't recognize the brunette woman chained next to him. She was awake as far as he could tell but was focused in the opposite direction of where he was sitting. Watching the door he guessed. Hotch pulled his eyes off the unknown hostage when he heard a soft groan coming from right next to him.

"Prentiss."

"Ow. Dammit." Emily glanced up in pain and confusion and focused on his face through squinted eyes. "Hotch? What the hell?"

She knew for a fact that they had all slept in separate hotel rooms that night and hadn't just decided to camp out on the floor for no reason.

"Take it easy," Hotch directed.

"Jesus, my head." She pressed a hand to the side of her head and closed her eyes.

"It gets better."

Both Hotch and Emily looked across the room to the woman who'd spoken. Emily hadn't even known she was there, and Hotch hadn't expected her to speak up at all. He didn't know what to make of this woman yet. She didn't seem panicked like a recent abduction victim would or shut down like a long term one. He could only describe her as calculating and maybe a little detached.

"If they gave you the same thing they gave me, the heaviness will be gone in about ten minutes," she continued.

"Ah," Emily groaned as she rubbed her head again. "Great. What the hell happened?"

"I don't know," Hotch answered, not really liking to admit that. The only thing he remembered was going to sleep at the hotel and waking up here with the same headache Emily had. How, where, and why remained a mystery to him.

"Given any other time I might say that I should record this moment," Rossi piped up, having just woken in time to hear Hotch's unwilling admission.

Hotch took the sarcasm with a straight face as always. Besides, he knew that of all of his team members Rossi was the one who really knew that Hotch didn't always have all of the answers. None of that mattered at the moment though. Right now they had work to do.

"Dave, wake up JJ," he ordered before shifting his attention to the other side of the room where the unknown woman was. "Wake him up please."

Hotch and the rest of the team may not know who she was, but Olivia Benson knew who they were even if it was only who they worked for. She'd already been given the preview of their captor's plans.

At Hotch's request, Olivia nodded and turned to shake the man tied to the wall beside her. Unfortunately, Morgan had been placed as far away from her as possible. It was easy enough to reach each other when both people moved as close as they could, but like this Morgan was out of Olivia's reach. She growled a bit in annoyance and stretched out as far as she could in an effort to tug on Morgan's shirt or the edge of his pants. It took a few attempts, but he finally seemed to come around.

"Morgan," Hotch called, drawing the other agent into full awareness.

"Yeah, Hotch, I'm up. I'm –" he trailed off when he realized what was going on.

He took a brief look around the room at everyone chained up and swore. This had to be some kind of sick dream. The case was over, and they were set to fly back to Virginia. So much for that plan. Morgan immediately started digging through his pockets and wasn't pleased to find that his cell phone was missing.

"Besides headaches, is everyone alright?" Hotch asked the group. He needed to quickly assess their conditions before dealing with the situation at hand.

"Pissed off, but fine," Morgan answered.

"I'm fine," JJ replied, leaving out the fact that she was sore. It wasn't important and hopefully rolling her head around would work out some of the kinks.

"Anyone remember anything?" Hotch continued when he was sure the team was alright.

"Aside from the really bizarre dream of smoke pouring into my room from under the door?" Emily answered, "Nope, don't remember anything strange."

While JJ and Rossi were reporting negatives in answer to remembering anything strange, Morgan was watching Olivia. He knew she'd been listening to everything they were saying despite the fact that she didn't openly appear to be doing so. Morgan hadn't planned on mentioning it until Emily had spoken. When Emily had recounted her dream, Olivia's head had snapped around. Even now she was watching Emily, apparently mulling something over.

"Hey, what is it?"

Olivia started and stared at Morgan uncomprehendingly. She hadn't expected him to suddenly ask her something.

"What?"

"You've been giving Prentiss an odd look ever since she answered Hotch. What did she say that got you thinking so hard?"

By that point all eyes were locked on Olivia. They may not have picked up on her interest as Morgan had, but they trusted his observation. Olivia's eyes flickered from one agent's face to the next. Hotch's frown and furrowed brown to Emily's confused expression over what she could have possibly said to interest Olivia to Rossi's quiet contemplation, and JJ's light frown. Finally she turned her attention back to Morgan, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her for a moment. She sighed and answered his question.

"It wasn't a dream."


	2. Chapter 2 Let The Games Begin

Chapter Two – Let The Games Begin

"Excuse me?" Emily asked in surprise in response to Olivia's answer.

"It wasn't a dream. What you remember really happened unless you just so happened to have a dream about the exact way you were subdued."

Hotch's frown deepened. This woman seemed to know an awful lot about what had happened to all of them. He couldn't help wondering again if she was in on this somehow. Her behavior wasn't what it should be for a victim, and her knowledge was far more than theirs. He would need to keep an eye on her for the time being until he could make a more informed decision.

"How do you know that?"

"Because when he came down here after he'd taken me I asked. He told me he sent an airborne drug into the room to knock me out before he came in. It explained why I had a headache and why I didn't wake up when he broke in. Trust me; I would have heard him come in."

Her words were firm and confident. She knew she would have woken up to any sounds coming into her apartment. Considering she hadn't, there had to be an explanation greater than simply "I was quiet."

"And so would we," Rossi agreed. "Only we didn't."

"Okay. Only if that's the case and I really was in the bathroom when the drugs were being sent into my room, why would I not have gotten out or opened a window or called one of you? It doesn't make sense," Emily reasoned.

"Unless it was that fast acting or it was coming in awhile before you saw it," Hotch responded as he puzzled over all of the possibilities.

That made enough sense to Emily, and she nodded lightly in acceptance.

"So why us?" JJ asked. "It's not like it's easy to abduct an entire team of FBI agents, especially since we're on a case and not at home."

"And why not Reid?" He's the only one not here," Morgan added.

If someone had gone to all of the trouble to abduct members of the FBI, they would have known that there was one more agent just a door away. Yet he hadn't taken Reid too. That was significant. Rossi was thinking the same thing as Morgan.

"The fact that instead of Reid the unsub took a civilian is important, but why?" Rossi asked.

Olivia was about to let them know she wasn't a civilian when she heard the door to their prison click open. She fell silent right away, eyes locked on the far side of the room after she'd stood up. The others followed suit, watching and waiting. Listening to their unsub and watching his behavior would tell the agents quite a bit about him. In order to know how to react they would need to know about him. It was their best chance if they wanted to get out of this alive.

A thin little man with slicked back brown hair stepped into the room to join them. He was dressed in a white lab coat with jeans and smiled brightly around the room at his guests. When he spoke, his voice was lilting and brimming with excitement.

"Welcome! Welcome! I'm glad that you've all arrived in one piece. It truly is good to see you all~."

JJ blinked at the odd contrast between the man's enthusiasm and where they were. She glanced over at Rossi uneasily. Rossi's entire focus was on their new arrival, and he didn't notice JJ's questioning look. The unsub was acting like this was all some kind of game and they were the long awaited players. Either that or they were the relatives who just came into town for a celebration. It was odd.

"I take it you've been," Rossi paused to mull over the correct wording before he continued, "waiting for us?"

"Oh yes. You should all do _wonderfully_ for my experiments. I'm sure you've seen quite a bit in your line of work."

"Then you know who we are and that people will be looking for us," Hotch added without any hint of concern.

"Yes, yes. I know who you all are. One of the benefits of listening to the news, I suppose. The moment I heard the FBI was here in New York, I knew you'd be _just perfect_."

He nearly squealed the last two words in his over excitement. Olivia wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if he'd started jumping up and down like a little girl who just got her first bike.

"Perfect for your experiments?" Emily asked, hoping to draw him into a more detailed explanation of what he was planning.

"Oh, yes. Very much so~. With everything that you see I'm sure you have such beautiful dreams!"

He'd said beautiful with a major emphasis on the first two letters so it came out like be-you-tiful. It didn't help that the entire sentence was interspersed with giggles.

The giggling was already getting on Morgan's nerves, and he would have loved to knock the guy out right then and there. Olivia had turned away, having already heard all of this and not wanting to hear it again.

"Dreams?" JJ asked.

"Exactly!" He thrust a finger out at JJ like she'd just said something brilliant. "They can be so awful, can't they? Memorable, terrifying, painful. Of course, it's much better if they are from real experiences. That's why all of you are going to be so much better than my previous subjects."

That didn't sound good to any of them. While they hadn't figured this was their unsub's first kidnapping considering how efficient his methods had been, they didn't particularly like knowing they weren't the first. Whatever this man was going to do, he would have no hesitation.

"Making a dream worse when it's not real to begin with doesn't work so well."

"You're trying to make dreams worse?" Emily questioned, eyebrows lifted in slight surprise.

"Yes, my dear that is exactly what I'm trying to do. I believe I'm getting very close to the right mix and dosage too," he assured as if that was what was worrying Emily.

"So we're your damn lab rats," Morgan growled.

The scientist tsked and shook his head.

"I prefer honored test subjects."

"Honored? We're chained to a wall!" Morgan retorted.

"Oh, but you are honored! All of you were simply perfect minus the fact that you had an uneven number of men and women. That's very important in an experiment you know, keeping the ration even. So I left out one of your men since he probably wouldn't have had much to contribute anyway~. Scrawny little thing. He hardly even looked like an agent."

He chuckled happily, rather amused by his own reasoning. Morgan watched him with disgust, but inwardly he was glad Reid wasn't here. If this man was going to make them relive their worst nightmares, Reid was better off not being here. He didn't need a reminder of what had happened with Tobias Hankel.

"So, since you needed another woman, I brought you a friend!"

The unsub waved at Olivia with a flourish. Olivia watched him without expression, her eyes hard and glinting with steel. Morgan noticed that she was standing slightly closer to the wall than she needed to be. The chain on her ankle was a little loose, but not enough for their captor to notice it.

"Adorable little thing, isn't she? She may not be FBI, but she works for one of the most brutal units in the NYPD. Considering how long she'd been with the Special Victims Unit, I bet she has quite~ a few horrors floating around in her head just waiting to be tapped. I'm sure she'll be a lovely addition to my experiment."

"Or I could try one of my own," Olivia snapped. "See how many kicks it takes to make your balls come out your mouth."

She jerked forward in a flash, snapping the knee of her free leg up toward his groin. He jumped back easily, chuckling gently.

"Whoops! Got a little to close there! I'll have to be careful around you."

He flashed Olivia an easy smile, not bothered at all by her attempt to attack him.

"I was going to have you go first, but I think it would be better to wait until last. That way you'll get to experience the very best."

Olivia was pretty sure she didn't like the sound of that, but she didn't let it show on her face. This creep was going to get no weakness from her. The little scientist clapped his hands once and turned on a heel before heading toward the door. Once he reached it he pirouetted one last time to face his guests.

"Well, I'm going to let all of you get comfortable while I prepare the first dose and decide who shall be first. Don't miss me too much! I promise I won't take long!"

With that he skipped easily away and closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3 Profilers' Game

Chapter Three – Profilers' Game

Once he was gone, the agents glanced at each other. Emily was the first one to speak.

"Wow. He's… something else."

Hotch ignored her and focused his dark gaze on Olivia. She certainly had fire and no fear. By this point though he could only assume she was a victim like his team. Not that he liked to think of himself as a victim.

"Why did you purposefully goad him?"

"I listened before, when I was alone. Being kind to him hadn't worked. Neither had probing for any real answers. I figured I would try to push him and see how far he would let me go so I knew for later. Plus, if he got pissed off, he might slip up. Once he brought you in, it became even more important for me to push him. I figured it would be better if he only targeted one of us. If he's focused on me, you'll have a chance."

Whether that was a chance to get free or a chance to not get hurt as badly she didn't say.

"What surprises me is the fact that he didn't seem bothered. He just seemed to think it was funny," Rossi pointed out.

"Like it's all a game," JJ confirmed.

"We're the game pieces he gets a kick out of playing with. Great," Morgan grumbled before turning away from the group to inspect the wall. He knew there was no chance of getting the cuffs off his wrist or ankle, but maybe the link to the wall was loose. He wasn't hopeful, but he had to check anyway.

"This guy needs us alive," Emily pointed out as she sat back down on the cold floor. "If we're dead, we're no good to him."

"So what does he really want from this drug? To be able to mentally break someone down?" JJ asked in confusion.

"Maybe, or it could simply be a power trip. Anyone can change your waking hours to what they want, but nobody has control over your dreams," Rossi concluded.

"The reason why he wants it could be nearly anything," Hotch confirmed. "Meant for one specific person or simply for use on anyone."

"He doesn't seem like the type of guy looking for revenge," Emily added.

"So no revenge then, which leaves us with what?" JJ asked. "For fun? Just to see people's reactions?"

"He's a scientist," Hotch reasoned. "All of this could simply be academic."

"Academic? You mean you think he's doing this just to experiment and see if he can make it work?" Morgan demanded a bit disgusted at the thought.

Hotch simply nodded in confirmation. He didn't like the idea either, but it was a definite possibility that they couldn't disregard.

"It does seem to fit," Rossi agreed. "He said he needed even numbers of men and women which makes sense in a controlled experiment."

"Controlled experiment? That's what we are?" Morgan snapped in furious anger.

"We could really use Reid on this," JJ murmured.

"We make do," Rossi responded. "The question is, if this is an experiment then there has to be some way to monitor it. What is that way?"

"Video cameras?" Emily suggested.

There didn't seem to be any equipment in the room that could be used to monitor things, but cameras were small. One could easily be hidden somewhere in the room. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if there was more than one.

"Possible. I'm sure he has a plan. Experiments mean a lot of trials. There's no way this is his first time," Rossi continued.

"So we've got a sadistic scientist who has been abducting people for awhile," Morgan growled.

"Yes, and in large numbers too. Part of experiments and statistics is having a large sample size. Plus, he's at the point now where he's started abducting high risk people that better suit his needs," Hotch answered.

"So what do we have in terms of a profile?" JJ asked.

"He's organized," Emily began. "He has to be to abduct six people at once. This is well planned out. His personality seems disorganized, but we know genius types can be… Reidesque."

A slight smile twitched JJ's lips. Yes, they did know that geniuses could be socially awkward, a little off, and a bit eccentric at times. That didn't mean they couldn't be incredibly organized in their own way though.

"Sadistic, yet only in a scientific way. He's not out to cause physical pain. The enjoyment comes from successfully completing the experiment," Rossi continued.

"This guy has to have some sort of charisma too," JJ mused. "There have to be people working for him."

"JJ's right. He's either good enough at convincing people to join him or he has something on them. I'm guessing it's more the first option. I figure there are more than three, but even if that's it three against one isn't good odds for the unsub," Morgan explained.

"Maybe, maybe not," Hotch countered. "He doesn't seem outwardly dangerous. More comical than anything, but that could put someone off their guard. He showed us with the detective that he's easily able to toss around casual threats."

Olivia blinked at the sudden mention of herself in the conversation. She'd been listening intently the entire time and couldn't help being impressed. Not only had they been analyzing this man like Huang did with sexual offenders, they'd also used her rank, which hadn't been mentioned. The only thing that had been said was that she was NYPD.

"How did you know that I'm a detective? How did you know any of that? Who are you guys?"

Hotch shifted his attention over to her and met her eyes evenly before he began to explain.

"It wasn't hard to know you were a detective. Regular officers aren't a member of a sexually based crime unit. Besides, a regular cop wouldn't have responded the way you did with the reasons you gave. I'd considered the fact that you could be a sergeant, but there are more detectives working an investigation squad."

Olivia shook her head, still in shock over how easily he had read her. Everything he had said made sense, but she knew she never would have been able to put it together the way he had. The way they all had.

"It's what we do for a living. Read people's behavior to determine who they are and what makes them tick," Morgan explained. "We're profilers."

"That's like knowing the exact words to say when interrogating someone before you even walk into the room."

"Definitely comes in handy," Morgan agreed.

"And it might come in handy a little bit later," Rossi interrupted, "but right now it might be better to focus on what we can expect to happen while we're his honored guests."

He finished the last two words with more derision than necessary.

"Considering there's no way we're breaking these chains, I'd say we're in for hell," Morgan grumbled.


	4. Chapter 4 Those That Haunt

Chapter Four – Those That Haunt

They all fell silent for a little while. Each of them knew the hell that was coming would be personalized. Their worst nightmares would come to life again, and if the unsub was successful, it would be far worse than they could imagine. None of them really wanted to think about how their expected nightmares could go from living hell to something beyond that. Emily was the one who finally broke the silence.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to have a bad day pretty soon."

Hotch was the only one who took the comment at more than face value. After all, he was the only one who knew about the conversation Emily was referencing. The request he'd made of her hadn't been shared with any of the others. He met Emily's eyes, silently reassuring her that she wouldn't be alone.

Across the room JJ tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. For the most part they would know the real situations the nightmares were manifesting from. Hopefully that would allow them to help each other get through. The team would support each other, but Olivia was alone. None of them knew what she had seen. While JJ could guess what her friends' dreams would revolve around, she had no idea where Olivia's would go. It would make it that much harder to pull her back to the present when the time came.

"Rossi? The Indianapolis case?"

Rossi turned toward her with a blank look on his face. It slowly cleared away when he realized what she was getting at. The case she was referring to had haunted his dreams for twenty years. Since he'd solved the case it hadn't bothered him, but JJ was right. Chances were it would be that case that would appear in the nightmare their unsub would force on him.

"I would be highly surprised if it wasn't," he answered. Before JJ even had a chance to ask the next question, he answered it. "About all you're going to be able to do is remind me that we solved it. Not that you need to worry. I don't see how he could make it worse, and I've handled it the way it's been for years."

He squeezed her arm lightly in reassurance. Rossi had no doubt that he could deal with a little nightmare. JJ gave him a tiny smile in return.

"What should I know?" he asked.

JJ shuddered lightly and couldn't help tightening her grip on her legs a little bit. Even though she'd seen more horrible cases than she could count since Tobias Hankel, that case still stayed with her. Years later and the deep growl of a large dog could still make her jump.

"Tobias and the dogs."

As she said it she realized that Rossi wouldn't know the case. He hadn't returned to the BAU at that point. A sick feeling filled her, and she couldn't stop the images from rushing to the front of her mind. Rossi saw the change in her eyes immediately and grabbed her arm. If she was already responding this way then it was going to be incredibly difficult for her later.

"JJ."

She took a steadying breath and turned to meet his eyes. He wouldn't let her be consumed by this. JJ knew it. Rossi squeezed her arm once more in a silent question, asking if she was okay. Once again JJ smiled at him, managing to hold the unease she felt at bay so it wouldn't come out in the smile. She would be fine. Somehow.

On the other side of the room, Emily was working out a way to offer Hotch support. Getting him to accept any help was going to be tricky, but she knew he would need it. Emily had no doubt that Hotch was going to relive the case with Foyet. She was as sure of it as she was that she'd relive her time with Doyle. Both of them would be teetering on the edge when this was over. She had to be sure she had a way to push Hotch back toward solid ground. He would do it for her without hesitation, but Hotch being Hotch, he'd never accept help himself. A little creativity it was.

"Hey, Hotch? We both know what I'm going to dream about, and we both know just as well that things aren't going to go well after."

So far so good. He was watching her and listening, but his expression was as unreadable as always. Emily forged ahead, hoping she wasn't about to screw up royally. A dormant volcano could become an active one easily enough.

"I know you can handle things, but will you let me help you after… you know… so I don't feel quite so pathetic when you need to help me?"

She bit her lip, trying to make it both look and sound like she was a little bit embarrassed about asking. Truth be told, she sort of was. Emily didn't openly share everything about herself, especially not her flaws. If something came up, she'd handle it herself. While she was starting to allow the team to support her when she needed it, the concept of getting help still didn't come easy to her. In this case though, it was a benefit since it might convince Hotch to let her help him too.

Being who he was, Hotch knew Emily had an ulterior motive. She'd done a very good job of making it believable though. He had to give her that. While part of her reasoning was likely to help him, Hotch had a feeling that Emily was being truthful as well. She needed to know that he wouldn't think less of her for needing help. He would never think that, but proof through his actions would say more to her than words alone.

"Fine, though you have no reason to feel pathetic or in any way inferior, Prentiss. There aren't words for what you went through, and it's still very fresh for you, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Hotch," Emily answered in relief. She'd pulled it off. Plus, while she knew she had his support, it was nice to hear it again.

While the others had been busy working out how to help their partners, Morgan and Olivia had remained relatively quiet. No matter how much Morgan had pushed, Olivia hadn't revealed much of anything to him. She'd simply insisted that she could see quite a few things, but whatever it was, she'd be fine. In reality, Olivia knew exactly what she was going to see. Even now she was forcing her mind away from the memories and pointedly keeping a thick barrier up around her. She refused to reveal how terrified she was of the thought of seeing his face again.

Morgan was still watching her, gaining nothing from the blank, completely closed off expression on her face when Hotch spoke.

"Morgan. What do you think you'll see?"

He peeled his eyes off Olivia's face and focused on his chief.

"I don't know, man. Could be a lot of things. Buford, Hankel, Battle, the Reaper, the Prince of Darkness. Those are just the ones that come to mind right away."

"Just keep in mind that we solved all of those cases."

From where he was, it was the most Hotch could do for Morgan. Hotch knew his agent well enough to know Morgan wouldn't need any kind of physical comfort. He was going to need someone to drag him out of his head so his thoughts didn't consume him. Hotch could manage to do that from across the room if he needed to.

Morgan nodded and pulled himself it his feet to begin pacing. The pacing only consisted of following the edge of a four foot diameter half circle, but he made do. It wasn't like he could just sit there any longer.


	5. Chapter 5 Scientifically Not

Chapter Five – Scientifically Not

"It's no use," JJ mumbled as she let her arm drop back down to her side. Her right wrist and hand were aching brutally from her attempts at getting the cuff off. "It's loose, but the only way I'm getting my hand out is if I dislocate my thumb."

Which wouldn't get them very far since there was no chance of freeing her left ankle.

"Leave it, JJ," Hotch advised.

She nodded, not pleased with the fact that she'd failed. Getting her cuff off was a last ditch effort, the only real chance of escape they seemed to have. Everyone had checked the concrete holding their chains to the wall. There wasn't any hint of weakness, so there was no way they'd be pulling the chains out. The next thing they'd checked had proved almost as futile. Everyone's cuffs were locked far too tight to slip out of. JJ was the only one who'd had a chance, though she'd just proved the chance had been too slim.

"So, what, we just sit here and wait until this guy gets back?" Morgan growled as he continued to pace his tiny half circle.

"I don't exactly see any other option," Emily retorted in irritation.

There was little they could do without more information to work with. They'd found three small cameras in the room that had fit with their profile. After that their search had turned up nothing. It was a dead end.

"So," Rossi mused as he tucked his arms behind his head and leaned back against the wall in a relaxed type pose. "Who do you think he'd going to test first?"

Morgan ground to a stop and stared at Rossi, mouth agape. JJ's and Emily's expressions seemed to mirror Morgan's since they were just as surprised by the sudden change in their conversation's direction.

"Dave?"

Rossi glanced at Hotch and shrugged.

"It's a valid question. Unless someone has a telepathic communication ability to get in touch with Reid or a way to magically melt steel or break concrete, we need to be prepared for what's coming."

"And you didn't think it wise to perhaps soften the question?"

"This isn't a soft situation, Hotch."

Hotch understood that and had to agree. He just wished there had been a way to shield his team somewhat. They were all strong people, but this situation could get to anyone. He wanted to make it even a tiny bit easier for them if he could.

"Pretty much everyone besides Olivia is fair game," Emily pointed out.

"So does that mean he's doing all of the girls last?" JJ asked as she thought about what their unsub had said.

"I'm not sure if that's a relief or not," Emily admitted. Being last could go one of two ways. Either they were rescued in time and didn't have to suffer through the nightmares or the drug was perfected to the point that they would suffer through the ninth circle of hell in vivid color.

"I don't think anything less than being rescued could be a relief," Olivia mused softly from her spot curled against the wall.

Morgan reached out and bumped her shoulder to catch her attention. When Olivia's dark eyes met his, he was somewhat surprised not to find any obvious fear.

"You know we'll get out of this, right?"

"While I appreciate the pep talk, we can't really know anything. All we can do is be hopeful."

She made a good point, but Morgan refused to think that way. At least for now he would hold onto the belief that they'd get out before they were disposed of.

"Reid, one of our agents, is still out there. He'll know something is wrong. He'll figure it out. Knowing Reid, he could even make the connection between our disappearances and yours."

"Even if he does, I'm not sure the rest of my unit will be able to help him much. They're all great detectives, but we're used to dealing with sexual assault and child abductions. This is different."

"Have a little faith, will you? We're not giving up. I guarantee you Reid won't, and I doubt your team will either."

Olivia gave him a tight smile in return. She knew her team wouldn't give up on her.

"I do have faith, but I'm also a realist. I can't just sit around and hope someone will come save me."

"And you think Morgan can?" Emily asked from across the room. "That's a laugh."

"Like you're any better," Morgan growled back.

"Our goal is to convince him to let one of us go," Hotch cut in, stopping the argument between Prentiss and Morgan before it could begin. "The only real chance we have of that is asking for it to be someone he's tested already."

"Even then it's going to take a lot of convincing," Rossi warned.

"It's the best shot we have right now."

Rossi met Hotch's eyes and held them. Both men knew it was a long shot, but they had to take it anyway. Rossi could see the uncertainty hidden within his friend's eyes. Hotch was keeping a strong front up for the rest of the team. They would never see through it, but Rossi could. Hotch didn't think he'd be able to get them all out of here alive. If he got anyone out at all. He didn't doubt his skills, but serial killers weren't caught right after the first victim was discovered.

And for all intents and purposes, they were the first victims known.

"So, what's the plan?" JJ asked, drawing Rossi's and Hotch's eyes.

While chances were good their unsub's cameras also had an audio feature, they had to risk discussing their planned escape. Details would be avoided, but they still hoped their captor was too busy preparing to listen to them.

"We try to…" Hotch began before Olivia stopped him with two words.

"He's coming."

Once the soft rattle of the chains from the agents getting to their feet subsided, silence prevailed. The door creaked before it crashed against the wall.

"Ready or not, here I am!"

The sing song voice made Morgan grit his teeth. If he'd been able to, he would have punched the guy right in the face. It was becoming a reoccurring thought for him. Their unsub skipped in and twirled once in the middle of the room before coming to a stop.

"What are you, some kind of idiotic ballet dancer?" Morgan scoffed.

"I am a scientific genius! Of course you don't need to take _my_ word for it. You'll get to see it for yourself!"

He set the small bag he'd brought with him down on the floor in the middle of the room before turning to get a good look at each pair. A thoughtful look crossed his face. It was overly exaggerated, complete with a finger to his chin and an audible hmm that would have been comical in any other situation.

"Who should I pick first? Ah, I know! We'll do this scientifically! Eenie, meenie, miney, moe it is!"

He turned to point between Morgan and Olivia first. While the strategy seemed random, the person he'd started with had been specifically chosen. Twenty one words made it easy to know who he would land on.

"Eenie." Rossi and JJ.

"Meenie." Hotch and Emily.

"Miney." Morgan and Olivia.

The game continued until the unsub came to a stop and said the last word.

"Moe."


	6. Chapter 6 First One Down

Chapter Six – First One Down

Author's Note: I don't know if this is physically possible or not, but it seems within the realm of plausible to me. If not, oops, oh well. On another note, this is my longest story yet. Totally unintentional. Sheesh. This story really was supposed to be rather short.

* * *

"Well, that was fun. You could have just come out and said oldest first you know," Rossi mused as he looked at the finger pointing squarely at him.

JJ's eyes darted to Rossi's a moment. He didn't seem the least bit bothered, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just an act either. While she wasn't showing her own fear in her expression, she was tense and hoping desperately that the unsub wouldn't change his mind and make her go first.

"I~ thought it was. Rather dramatic. Increases the anticipation to the max~, don't you think?" the unsub responded as he hopped in place from foot to foot.

He picked up his supplies and moved to stand before Rossi, careful to stay out of reach.

"Now for the rules~. You my dear," he began, spinning his finger with flair as it came to point at JJ, "scoot as far to the right as your chain will allow. If you try to move closer I will be forced to…"

He made a face and grimaced.

"Well, you know."

JJ didn't know, but she could guess. Not wanting to find out if her guess was right, JJ did as she was told.

"Are you all paying attention?" the unsub asked as he swung around. "Detective?"

Olivia returned his gaze icily without a word.

"Now the same rules will apply each time. You say away from your partner until I'm gone. After that you may do whatever you'd like. EXCEPT!"

He whirled around at the last word, skewering Olivia with his eyes like she was the one student in class he knew would break the rules.

"You may not touch any of the monitors. If you try anything with them, I will know. So just don't. It's really, really, _really_ not a good idea."

By the last really it sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and Emily had to fight not to flinch. This guy was seriously annoying. She'd even take an hour long lecture with Reid at his most statistical over this guy. That was counting this as a regular, everyday discussion too.

"Monitors?" Rossi questioned.

The unsub whipped out a small black box about the size of four decks of cards. Two wires were attached ending in circular stickers used to monitor heart rate.

"Ta da! I call it my Handy Dandy Not Made By Mandy Portable Scarometer!"

JJ's jaw dropped before she could stop it. He couldn't be serious, could he? Apparently he could since he was beaming with pride at the name. She snapped her mouth closed as soon as possible, glad he'd been too caught up in his naming to notice.

"Hands behind your back please, agent~," he directed.

Once Rossi had complied he popped the monitoring device's wired ends to Rossi's chest. A few clicks on the device and two readings later gave him everything he needed to be set up. He flicked one final switch and a red light gleamed on the box.

"Part one is done! And _now_ for part two!"

He'd drawn out the now and then thrust two fingers up and held them before Rossi's face.

"Hand me your chained arm with your hand in a fist please."

He tied off Rossi's arm to expose the vein when he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes.

"Uh uh uh! Try to punch me and I'll have Agent Jareau I believe it is go first. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

The unsub held his finger up and tsked. Rossi's expression darkened into a grimace. He'd take anything he had to onto himself, but he would not let JJ pay for his attempt. Once more he tucked his hand back behind him.

"Good decision."

Rossi felt the needle slip into his arm but remained still, watching and evaluating. There was a light tingly feeling a moment later, and the needle was withdrawn. His arm was untied and given a quick pat before the unsub stepped away.

"I'd say sweet dreams~, but that would be a rather big lie. So I'll just say see you when you wake up! Bye now!"

He waggled his fingers and skipped toward the door. It clicked shut behind him, leaving the room in silence once again. All eyes turned to focus on Rossi.

"What? Don't all of you look at me like I'm about to turn into the damn Hulk or something."

"Sorry, Dave. How are you feeling?" Hotch asked. He had no idea what the unsub had given his friend so he was facing a dark unknown.

"Fine, though I'd probably be feeling better if you weren't all looking at me that way. Morgan. Emily."

Both agents looked down a bit sheepishly. They'd been caught worrying.

"Sorry, man," Morgan soothed.

"Yeah, we didn't mean anything by it. It's just that this could be it…" Emily added.

"If it is then you worry about yourselves and find a way out of this hell hole. Got it?"

"We will, and we'll get you out too," Hotch answered.

"Bah, Aaron! There's no one out there to need to get my body to if it comes to that. You just worry about getting yourself and the rest of the team out."

Hotch nodded darkly, not liking the answer but willing to agree to it.

"We do," JJ whispered back.

"Hm?"

"We're family, Rossi. We need you back."

"Preferably alive," Emily added.

"We aren't letting you out of this, Dave," Hotch told him.

"Apparently not," Rossi muttered. While he appreciated their sentiments, he didn't want them sacrificing themselves for him if he was already gone.

Without any warning, Rossi wobbled and grabbed the wall for support. He had to fight to keep his eyes open even though he was still on his feet. His name reached him through a fog, and he thought he felt JJ's hand brush his arm.

JJ could tell Rossi wasn't reacting at all, so she guided him closer so she could help ease him down to the ground. His eyes were already half mast and dropping fast.

"Hotch!" JJ called out worriedly.

She pressed her fingers to Rossi's neck, searching out a pulse. When she found one immediately she sighed.

"JJ?" Hotch prodded.

"He's okay. He's asleep. It's just that he went down so fast."

"Keep an eye on him."

She nodded and turned her attention back to her sleeping partner. With the chains she could barely touch him, but it would be enough to let him know she was there. At least JJ hoped so.


	7. Chapter 7 Hell With An Axe

Chapter Seven – Hell With An Axe

Author's Note: And now the fun with dreams finally begins! For those interested, Rossi's dream is based off of the episode Damaged (3x14). Just in case, while the dreams are based off of these episodes, it's not going to be exactly what happened. Dreams alter things. Timing, what you see, minor details… so don't be expecting a complete replica of an episode, though I have tried to keep most of the quotes the same and incorporated as many details as I could.

* * *

_Before he became aware of anything else, he noticed the smell. Pine, the sweet scent of a Christmas tree. Odd._

_As the blackness faded, the smell remained, though it was out of place. The scents of popcorn and French fries fit with the high pitched laughter of children, musical games, and cajoling adults. So did the clowns running around, and the balloon animals floating past his face. He could make out what most of them were but a few were oddly deformed. Huh._

_The carnival was nice, happy. Rossi couldn't stop the smile from sliding across his face. Unless you were afraid of clowns, carnivals were fun._

_Until everything was splintered by the blood curdling screams of children._

_The image of the carnival shattered like a mirror. As the pieces rained down beside Rossi, he could see the glittering images of games, balloons, candy apples, and happy, smiling children. That was the way children should be. Not like this. Not screaming like their entire world had just shattered like the carnival._

_As the screaming continued, the smell of pine increased. It invaded Rossi's senses, and he contemplated what it was from when the screams began to form words._

"_Mommy! Daddy!"_

_Two words. That was all, but it was enough to make his stomach twist into knots. The screams were coming from the house swaying back and forth in front of him. He was sure of it even though he didn't know why he felt so confident about that fact._

_He lurched forward, running for the door. At first it didn't seem like he was getting any closer as he batted aside shadowy objects that continued to get in his way, but all of a sudden he was on the front steps standing before the door. _

_When he reached out for the knob, he saw the heads on the door and froze. Three silhouettes about the size of small dinner plates gleaming in gold. Each one had a single name engraved on it. Connie, George, Alisha. At the top they were all interlinked with a gold chain. Somehow Rossi felt like that chain was linked to him as well, tied so tightly around him that he was suffocating._

0~0~0~0

"It's starting," Hotch said softly when the sudden beeping filled the room.

The pace was quick, slightly faster than a normal heartbeat. None of them doubted where it was coming from. It had to be the monitor attached to Rossi's chest.

JJ hovered nervously next to him, staying as close as she could. She'd watched Rossi's expression go from smooth to suddenly tense. The beeping had started right after that. Even as she watched, the strain became more evident on his face, and his breath hitched a few times. She reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Hang in there, Rossi. Please, just hold on."

0~0~0~0

_Rossi raced up the steps, breathing heavily and praying he could stay standing. The ground was shifting beneath his feet and making it nearly impossible to keep his balance. When he'd finally made it up the steps he shot down the hallway like a rocket. The children were down there, still screaming at the top of their lungs. He had to reach them._

_The sight that greeted him when he'd run through the open door into the master bedroom sent him to his knees. A little girl covered in streams of blood from head to toe stood screaming in the middle of the room. Beside her screamed two younger children as they clung desperately to the slightly older child._

_Rossi managed to peel his eyes away from them and take in the rest of the room. Most of the walls and floor were splattered with blood, though it seemed to center on the bed. The bed where all he could see was a foot sticking out from the covers. A foot covered in just as much blood as the rest of the room. _

_He didn't want to get closer. He didn't want to see what was hidden beneath the bed's covers. He didn't want to see any of it, yet his body moved on autopilot against his will. It brought him to the bed and reached for the edge of the comforter, beginning to pull it back._

_No, no, no, no! He didn't want to see this! His arm didn't listen though and simply finished revealing the ravaged bodies of two adults. They'd been brutally mauled, almost chopped to pieces. Rossi whirled away instantly. He couldn't look at what had been done to these children's parents._

_Instead of getting away he came face to face with an axe. Blood dripped from the head, slowly running down the handle. No, it was running up the handle. Rossi stared wide eyed in horror as the blood continued toward the head of the axe and disappeared until it was clean. Like brand new. Like it hadn't been used to murder two people._

_For the second time Rossi fell to his knees. He'd expected to feel the hard floor connect painfully. Instead the impact was soft, and he seemed to sink. He looked around frantically trying to figure out what had happened. When his eyes shifted he found himself surrounded by plush toys. Little stuffed animals with bows tied around their necks, stuffed sports balls, glowing toy swords, and glittering light sticks. They were all the cheap kind you would find at a carnival._

_And they were swallowing Rossi._

_He was sinking deeper and deeper into the pile and couldn't escape. Even though he tried to claw his way out, to throw the toys far away, more kept pouring in on top of him._

_Soon enough his screams were mixed with those of the children along with the never ceasing smell of pine, and the farther he fell, the colder it became._

0~0~0~0

Morgan had never heard Rossi scream. Never. He'd seen the man shaken, but this was far beyond that. This was terror, pure and simple.

"Wake him up, JJ!" Hotch insisted, his voice cracking like a whip.

"I'm trying!" JJ cried back desperately as the beeping continued to blare at a frantic pace.

"Rossi! Rossi wake up!" she shouted as she shook him.

He was breathing hard, and once in awhile a strangled scream slipped past his lips again. At first JJ's desperate attempts to wake him seemed to do no good. Suddenly Rossi shot up to a sitting position, his eyes wide and breathing hard.

"Rossi?" JJ asked gently as she rested a hand on his arm.

His head snapped toward her, fear still gleaming in his eyes.

"You solved it, Rossi," JJ soothed. "You got the guy who did it. It's over. For them and for you."

Rossi listened intently, and his breathing finally slowed. He closed his eyes a moment and shuddered. When he opened them again the beeping had stopped and he seemed much more in control.

"Dave?" Hotch inquired.

"I'm alright." He smiled warmly at JJ and rested his hand on hers. "Thanks to what she said."

JJ looked down nervously.

"I didn't say anything special," she murmured.

"JJ, I don't get how you can be so clueless about how good you are sometimes," Emily muttered in exasperation.

"I'm not… I didn't…" JJ floundered.

Emily and Morgan started laughing. Rossi grinned, though it was still a bit tainted by sadness, and shook his head. JJ looked frantically back and forth between them all.

"Guys, I didn't do anything!"

That only made Emily and Morgan laugh harder. Even Hotch was amused and allowed one side of his mouth to curl upward. Olivia was smiling too. She may have just met JJ, but she could tell the other woman was good with words and dealing with people.

JJ sighed and shook her head at them. She really wished they would stop teasing her.


	8. Chapter8 Inertia is a Property of Matter

Chapter Eight – Inertia is a Property of Matter

It had only taken their unsub about half an hour to come skipping into the room to remove the heart monitor.

"That was fun, wasn't it? Different from what you were expecting? Worse than usual?"

"A real ball of fun," Rossi growled back, refusing to give the man any real answers.

"Considering how quickly your heat was beating I'm sure it was," he replied as he wound the wires around the monitor and tucked the machine into his bulging bag. "Welp, I think I will give you all some time to sit and eat before we move on to round two. It's a good plan, don't you think?"

He looked around at all of them with a huge grin on his face. Before any of the agents could share their opinions, he continued.

"I think it's a good idea! So food it is!"

He started dolling out peanut butter sandwiches and bottles of water to each of them, explaining absently as he went along.

"Can't disrupt the experiment by having more than one variable. It would ruin the whole thing. You all need food. So one for you… and one for you…"

He continued until everyone had their meal before grinning at them once more.

"Bon appetite! I will be back before long! Don't miss me too much~."

Once the door clicked closed JJ spoke up.

"So Bill is actually feeding us?"

"Bill?" Emily asked in confusion. The unsub hadn't deemed it necessary to share his name with them, so she had no idea where "Bill" had come from.

"Yeah. It's just what I've been calling him."

"Why Bill?" Morgan asked as he peeled his eyes off the distasteful sandwich in his hand to look at JJ.

She shrugged. "You know that kids' show they used to air called Bill Nye?"

"The science guy," Hotch added.

The rest of the team looked up at him in surprise. They hadn't expected Hotch to have any idea what JJ was talking about, especially since none of them did.

"Bill Nye the Science Guy?" Morgan asked incredulously.

"Jack says he likes it. They show it at school sometimes," Hotch explained.

"He's basically this weird little scientist that explains science concepts in a way kids would enjoy and understand," JJ continued. "Reminds me of our unsub only less… dangerous I guess."

"So you've just been referring to him as Bill," Rossi laughed before starting in on his sandwich. He wasn't overly hungry after what he had just seen, but he knew that he needed to eat. If he waited until his stomach completely settled the food might be gone.

"Pretty much," JJ confirmed.

"I guess it's better than the guy or the kidnapper," Olivia mused.

"I'll stick with unsub thanks," Emily grumbled after taking a sip of her water.

She'd inspected the bottle and found it sealed. Nothing had seemed out of place, so she figured it was safe. The sandwich was a different story. She had no idea how Rossi could be so sure it was safe to eat.

"These things safe?" Morgan asked as he held his sandwich up questioningly.

"Your friend hasn't died yet," Olivia pointed out blandly even though she didn't trust the sandwiches either.

"He doesn't want us dead, and there wouldn't be anything odd in them. That would add another variable, and you can't have that in a valid experiment," Rossi explained.

"Rossi is right. We all need to eat," Hotch replied.

With that the agents all started in on their sandwiches with various levels of disgust and hesitation.

"Think this creep is going to be kind enough to give us bathroom breaks since he gave us food?" Morgan grumbled.

"Doubt it," Emily groaned. "Not having a real bathroom doesn't change the conditions of an experiment like food does."

Before they could go further down that line of discussion, Hotch steered the conversation in a different direction. A far more important direction.

"Dave, was anything different?"

None of the other agents would have understood what Hotch had asked. Since Rossi and Hotch had worked together for such a long time, Rossi could easily read between the lines. He didn't need to think about the odd question at all to see what Hotch wanted.

"A little more surreal than usual and rather out of order, but otherwise, no. There were parts of it that, if they weren't so correlated to that case, would have been good."

Hotch nodded without a word. Rossi's answer gave Hotch what he needed. The unsub, Bill, (Thank you, JJ. Now he was never going to be able to separate the two again.) hadn't managed to do what he really wanted to yet. He may not have known what Rossi had seen, but it sounded like it could have been a lot worse. That's what Bill had promised after all.

The room lapsed into silence as everyone continued eating. Even when all of the food was gone silence remained. Each person was lost in their own thoughts, none of them good, and nobody wanted to share. It had been around twelve hours since they'd been taken, probably even a little bit more. Someone had to realize they were missing right now. They had to be searching. It was impossible that they weren't. All of the prisoners knew they would be found eventually. They just hoped it was soon. Very soon.

None of them wanted to experience what Rossi had. He'd only been the first trial, an imperfect one, yet he'd screamed. What would happen when the unsub got it right and it was their turn? How much worse would it be?

0~0~0~0

Unknown to the agents, Bill had come to the same conclusion Hotch had after listening to Rossi's explanation of his dream. He recorded all of the information he'd just learned from listening to the conversation the agents had when he wasn't in the room right under the stats he'd gathered during the actual experiment. The dosage still wasn't quite right. He'd been hoping for a much better result, a stronger reaction, seeing something that hadn't happened before. It hadn't worked.

Frowning he jotted down a few more notes. He would need to alter the balance of drugs for the next trial. If that still didn't work he would just have to increase how much he used. This was turning into quite the challenge, and it was exciting!

He just wished he could actually see what the agents were seeing in their dreams. Perhaps he'd work on a method of doing that for later. Truth serum would at least get him answers to questions that could help him form his own images of what they saw. It wouldn't be perfect, but at least it was a start. He added the thought down on a separate sheet of paper so he wouldn't forget it and headed off to start working on the dose for his next round.

He'd test a female this time. The brunette, though not the one he'd taken a shine to. His little snapping turtle was so much fun to watch. Potentially dangerous, but not if he stayed an appropriate distance away. He would have fun with her without a doubt. The detective would be last, which left the other one. What was her name? Ah, right. Agent Prentiss.

He did a little gleeful hop, one food up then the other while he was still in the air. Ooh, this was going to be so much fun!

* * *

Author's Note: Did anybody pick up why the chapter was named what it was?


	9. Chapter 9 Not Alone

Chapter Nine – Not Alone

"Morgan, what the hell are you doing?" Emily demanded as she watched her friend start pulling his belt from his waist.

"Trying to get out of here no matter how impossible that might be."

He turned toward the wall and eyed his chain. If he could use a little bit of leverage maybe he could loosen it. After he slid the pin part of the buckle through he realized it wasn't going to be long enough to brace on the opposite side when he pulled.

"Damn it. It's not going to be long enough."

Olivia had picked up on what he was trying to do and immediately started looking for another option. Heels would have worked, but considering they'd all been taken in their sleep nobody was wearing shoes. It wasn't like anyone would take a pocket knife to bed either. Finding nothing that wouldn't bend out of shape right away, she sighed and gave up.

"It was a good idea."

Morgan glanced her way and nodded appreciatively. Still, good idea or not, it hadn't gotten them anywhere.

"Okay, how didn't I realize this sooner?" JJ asked, breaking the disappointment Morgan and Olivia were feeling.

"Miss what?" Morgan demanded.

"The fact that you're still wearing what you had on yesterday."

"So?"

"Just decided to sleep in your clothes did you?"

Emily chuckled. JJ did have a very good point.

"She's got you there, Morgan."

"So I feel asleep watching TV. Big deal. We were all tired, man."

"And you didn't bother to change," JJ pointed out.

"Why would I?"

"I don't know. To be comfortable maybe?"

"I am comfortable in this."

Emily's and JJ's eyes met for a brief moment before they both spoke at the same time. With only slightly different timing, Olivia had said the exact same word in exasperation.

"Men."

All three women grinned when they'd realized what had happened. Morgan rolled his eyes and got up to distract himself by trying to kick the ring loose from the wall. Again it was a long shot, but he had to try something.

"If you actually get that loose, which would be a miracle by the way," Rossi began, "you get out of here."

Morgan glanced over his shoulder and nodded. He knew it was their best chance to save everyone if one person got out alone and went for help. It would be easy enough to take Bill down if he didn't have the chains on. Plus, a little directing would let Hotch help him out too. If it came to that, he'd find a way to get the unsub close enough to where Hotch was chained so his boss could hold him back. They wouldn't even need to discuss it.

"Sit down. He's coming back," Olivia warned when she saw the door begin to open once more.

"So his damn fun can begin again," Morgan grumbled acidly as he dropped beside Olivia.

"Morgan."

He swung his head around at the warning tone from Hotch and nodded. Pushing it would get him in trouble with this guy. Considering he was already fixed on Olivia, that wouldn't be a good thing. One of them needed to be able to help the other.

"Well? Well?" Bill asked excitedly as he bounded into the room. "How was it? Hm?"

Unfortunately by that point they were pretty used to their unsub's eccentricities. That didn't mean they had much of an idea on what he was talking about. Their mix of frozen and blank looks told him that.

"Dinner and your time to rest! _Really_," he added in exasperation, "you need to pay attention."

Olivia considered poking at him a bit more about how she was paying attention to what mattered but decided against it. He was likely here for another round, and she didn't want to make him angry enough to mess up or really hurt whoever was next.

"It takes a lot to mess up a peanut butter sandwich," Rossi answered before Bill could turn his glare on all of them.

"Which is why I don't treat my guests to filet mignon~. Aside from the fact that it is _incredibly _expensive, it's very easy to mess up. I wouldn't want you to be disappointed~."

He'd walked over to stand before Hotch and Emily as he was speaking and smiled down at them when he was done.

"Right, Agent Prentiss?"

Emily simply watched him impassively and without comment. She had a bad feeling she knew why he'd addressed her by name though. This was really going to suck.

When the unsub made a little shooing motion at Hotch, her suspicions were confirmed. She was next.

"Let me go first," Hotch demanded, willing to do anything to put off the terror Emily would soon experience. She was a member of his team, and it was his job to protect her.

"Aww, that's so cute!" He turned toward Emily with a smile and pointed at Hotch. "He's trying to protect you!"

Hotch's eyes narrowed a bit in annoyance. His irritation only increased when Bill turned a sympathetic smile on him.

"I know you're excited, but you'll get your turn. My experiment requires a woman next, so you really don't qualify. Now, shoo."

Hotch cast a quick glance at Emily before moving to the end of his chain. He desperately wanted to do something to help her, but his hands were tied. All he could do was be there for her.

Emily caught the look and gave him a tiny nod in return. Speaking would reveal how terrified she was. She'd only recently managed to put Doyle behind her, at least for the most part. After this she'd be back at square one again, if not somewhere in the negative numbers.

"Ah, my dear, you're the lucky number one! Forgive me for not making it ladies first, but there is a process to this you understand. Arms please."

Emily hesitated for a brief instant.

"Agent."

The word of warning held all of the dark promise they'd profiled the unsub was capable of. This was simply the first time they'd seen it. Emily immediately complied, knowing she wouldn't like what happened if she didn't. There was no doubt this man was serious. The threat may have been missing specifics, but it definitely wasn't empty.

"Much better!" Bill crowed happily, his personality doing a quick 180 back to his usual fluttery amusement.

He got Emily set up just as he had done for Rossi a few hours ago. She was trying to remain calm and breathe normally, but she was pretty sure there was a spike in her heart rate if Bill's face was any indication. Once she was ready, the unsub injected her with the slightly altered drug cocktail.

"Let's see if this is the right mix now shall we? Do enjoy your time in dream land, Agent Prentiss~."

It was only once Bill was gone that Hotch noticed Emily start picking at her nails. While it wouldn't have been recognizable to most, and definitely not important, Hotch knew what it meant. So did the other profilers. Emily only picked at her nails when she was stressed or nervous. They'd seen it a lot before and after Doyle, but after a few months that habit had been gone.

"Prentiss."

"I'm fine, Hotch," she assured, even though she knew he could see right through her. The others probably could too.

"Emily, we're here okay?" Morgan added.

"Yeah. I know, and I'll be fine."

Her gaze shifted over to JJ who was watching her worriedly. Emily smiled brightly at her.

"You managed to pull Rossi out of his funk in just a few words. Have any for me before I fall asleep?"

JJ thought for a moment before smiling. "Cheetobreath has just one word. Jinxed."

Rossi gave JJ an odd look which Olivia put words to.

"Huh?"

She turned toward Morgan, the question obvious in her expression. Morgan held up his hands and shrugged.

"Don't ask me. I have no idea what they're talking about."

Neither woman bothered to answer though. Emily's mouth just hung open while JJ smiled innocently at her. None of the others would understand what jinxed meant, but Emily did. It was the word JJ had played to put herself so far in the lead during a game of Scrabble that Emily hadn't been able to even remotely catch up. Not only had the word been worth a lot of points to begin with, JJ had placed it on a triple word score space, giving her an enormous number of points.

"Thanks a lot," Emily grumbled between yawns.

"Always," JJ assured. It was meant to be comforting, but she couldn't stop the concern from slipping into her voice.

She could see that Emily was already drifting away, her head lolling to the side as she rested against the wall. When Emily tipped a bit further, Hotch reached out and eased her down to the ground.

"Stay strong, Emily…" JJ whispered softly.

Rossi reached over and touched JJ's shoulder.

"She'll be fine."

JJ nodded but wasn't sure she fully believed it. Emily had been through so much, but as hard as seeing it again might be, this time she wouldn't be alone.


	10. Chapter 10 Hell With A Ship

Chapter Ten – Hell With A Ship

Author's Note: Emily's dream is based off of two episodes: Valhalla (6x17) and Lauren (6x18). The name of the flower wasn't mentioned, but when I compared pictures it looked pretty close to the iris, so I went with it.

* * *

"_Lauren Reynolds is dead… dead… dead… dead."_

_The last word seemed to echo on and on, getting softer yet no less distinct. Emily's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright in a panic. It took her a few moments to realize where she was. When she did, her blood ran cold._

_A field of purple irises. _

_She knew these flowers, could pick out their fragrance anywhere. As far as she could see in every direction they grew without end. There was no escape. Just as there was no escape from him._

"_I am Valhalla."_

_At the sound of the male voice the flowers began changing. Emily noticed the shift in the distance. The flowers seemed to rise up, swelling like a wave, only to crash back down as dark, swirling water. The effect rippled inward, coming toward her at a frightening pace. Within moments she was completely engulfed in water._

_Emily struggled against the crushing force of the waves, scrambling until she pulled her head above water. She choked and gasped for air as she fought to stay afloat. As she pushed her wet, stringy hair out of her eyes she saw a ship coming toward her. It was wooden with a curled front end. The single large sail was bright green with a black shamrock adorning it. Only the image wasn't just a four leaf clover. The end of the stem was shaped as a "V." If the symbol wasn't enough, the gold letters along the ship's side that gleamed despite the lack of sunlight answered everything._

_Valhalla._

_As the ship drew up alongside her, Emily realized it wasn't unoccupied. The entire side of the ship was lined with people looking down at her. All of them wore plain, white, expressionless masks. It made her feel incredibly uneasy. Her uneasiness spiked when she suddenly found a gold chain wrapped around her. The gimmel ring she could never forget rested against her chest._

_In an instant the ship was gone, and Emily found that she was unable to move._

0~0~0~0

Hotch heard the pained whimper and turned toward Emily. It had been quiet enough that the others wouldn't have heard it. They couldn't see how tense she was either. While her heart rate remained relatively normal, Hotch knew she was scared. Emily Prentiss didn't scare easily.

He watched her closely, worried. Would she be able to make her way back from this again? Probably, but she didn't deserve to relive this again and suffer through the recovery once more.

0~0~0~0

_Her hands were cuffed behind her back, her ankles tied to the legs of a chair. As she shifted, trying to test the restraints, she winced in pain. She'd been shot twice in the chest, and vest or not, it hurt like hell. Instead of moving she glanced around. The room seemed to be in a warehouse, the walls made of cinderblock and brick. It was cold and dark, but worse of all foreboding. _

_The sudden weight on her shoulders made her heart stutter and her breath catch in her throat. She hadn't heard Doyle enter._

"_Hello, Emily," he murmured gently as he ran his thumb over her cheek._

_Emily shuddered and tried to pull away. It was no good though. She could do nothing to protect herself from him. As quickly as the hands were there, they were gone. She craned her neck around, desperate to figure out where he was. A sudden buzzing filled the room. While it was familiar, she couldn't quite place it. When Doyle walked back around to stand in front of her with that bone chilling smile of his, Emily didn't care what the sound was anymore._

"_I thought you should have a little more ink. Only… I don't use ink."_

_As he'd said that he'd started unbuttoning her shirt and brushing both parts aside to reveal her chest. She forced herself to stay still even though the only thing she really wanted to do was scream and fight to get away. Emily tried to tell him she didn't want it, that she could be whoever he wanted her to be, but she couldn't say a word._

_His fingers touched the left side of her chest and immediately red hot pain shot through her. It was like Ian had touched her with nearly molten metal and not his hand. She screamed._

_When Doyle took his hand away, Emily's head dropped down. The pain was making her nauseous, but worse yet was the smell of burned flesh. She didn't want to open her eyes and see what he had done. There was no doubt what she would find. A four leaf clover, leaves coming together in little swirls, with a "V" at the end of the stem. His mark. The mark of Valhalla._

0~0~0~0

Everyone jumped when Emily's heart monitor went from soft, slow beats to a sudden blaring, rapid-fire pace. She'd almost curled in on herself. Even her hands were clenched, and if her nails were longer, they would have been digging bloody gouges into her palms.

"Emily…" Morgan whispered, pained for his friend.

"She'll make it through," Olivia assured. "She'll survive it, and you'll be there for her when she wakes up."

Morgan glanced at Olivia, his face clearly showing what he was feeling. Emily was hurting, and he hated it. Before he had a chance to ask how she knew that, Olivia spoke up.

"Trust me. You know that she's strong. Believe in her."

How this woman was able to ease his fears so easily and put things in perspective again he didn't know. She didn't even know them, yet he knew she was right. A tiny bit of tension drained from Morgan. The only thing he could do for Emily now was wait and be ready to help her later.

0~0~0~0

"_Ian, no! This is just between the two of us. They have nothing to do with this!"_

_Emily couldn't help panicking as she stared at the image hovering in midair like an invisible television. Rossi and Seaver were standing directly in a sniper's crosshairs, and they had no idea they were even in danger. Doyle could kill both of them in an instant. She heard the muffled pft of the rifle and the image went out._

_She lurched forward uselessly, but froze when she felt the cold metal of Doyle's gun pressed to her forehead. This was it. He was going to kill her._

"_Game's over, love. Time for your last confession."_

_Once more she was standing over Declan in this same room. His tiny, angelic face stared up at her, his curly blond hair in disarray. He was gagged and terrified as he sat in the corner of the very same warehouse Emily had been in seconds before. Terrified of the woman that was holding a gun at him. Terrified of Emily._

_The impact of a hand against her face shattered the image and sent Emily reeling. She'd only just regained her balance when Doyle caught her again and slammed her into the wall. With her hands still cuffed, Emily couldn't really fight back. She tried, but it did no good. Doyle had the upper hand, and the hits kept coming._

_A few more punches and she was on the ground. Before she could even consider getting up, Doyle's foot collided with her ribs. Emily groaned and tried to roll away, but Doyle continued to find his target. Finally she managed to dart to the side and sent him sprawling._

_Before he even had a chance to come at her again, Emily started pounding him with a thick, wooden stake she'd grabbed when it had been within reach. Each time it impacted with Doyle she felt it reverberating up her hands. It felt good. Really good._

_Until suddenly the pain wasn't in her hands but in her stomach._

_Emily's hands loosened, and she stared down at the stake sticking out of her gut, her mouth agape. She had no idea how Doyle had turned it on her like that. The pain was excruciating, and she could barely think as she stumbled away and collapsed onto her back._

_Everything went dark until she spotted a bright light darting back and forth a short distance away. Then another one. And another._

"_You are not alone! We are in that dark place with you waving flashlights and calling your name!"_

_Emily couldn't help the tug of a smile at Garcia's disembodied words._

"_Emily!"_

_Morgan was suddenly at her side, kneeling next to her and looking frantic. He had no reason to be. Emily knew she was bleeding badly, but that was okay. She was just so tired. Morgan grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him._

"_Stay with me, baby."_

_He was trying to help, but he didn't understand. Emily squeezed his hand gently before answering him._

"_Let me go."_

"_No, Emily!"_

_Emily drifted into darkness just as she heard the sirens. It stayed that way for a little while, the darkness behind her eyelids, before it changed. This darkness was deeper and more complete. There was no light, no sound, just a cold inky blackness devoid of feeling, hope, and life._


	11. Chapter 11 The Storm

Chapter Eleven – The Storm

Emily woke with a start, gasping for breath. It felt like her throat had closed in and she couldn't breathe. She couldn't get any air into her lungs, and she was panicking.

"Emily!"

Hotch's whip crack command brought her back, and she snapped her eyes to his. When Hotch saw he'd caught Emily's attention his expression softened. He wouldn't need his "I'm unit chief of the BAU so don't screw with me" voice anymore.

"Breathe," he told her gently.

Emily closed her eyes and took a few steadying breaths. She could feel the panic starting to recede, but she doubted it would disappear entirely. When she had it as under control as it would likely get she opened her eyes again. Hotch was still watching her closely, so she nodded to him despite the fact that she was still shaking.

"Hotch, I…" she began before her boss shook his head.

"You don't need to say anything."

No, of course she didn't. Hotch wouldn't need an explanation. He already knew. When Hotch jerked his head in a "come here" motion, Emily finally realized that he was on the end of his chain. Apparently she'd shifted out of reach during the throes of her nightmare. Emily moved closer, and Hotch rested a hand on her am.

"I know you can handle this on your own, but sometimes it's easier to share the burden."

Emily knew it was true. Plus, coming from the man who never shared any of his pain, it meant a lot more.

"Thanks, Hotch. I'll be fine. It's not like I'm cut off from you guys this time."

"Damn right, Prentiss," Morgan called out. "We're all here."

Emily glanced from his face to Rossi's, JJ's, and Hotch's. Their eyes all held the same message. If she needed them for anything, they'd be there, even if she didn't want them to be. Emily felt tears pool in her eyes and fought them back. They didn't need to see her cry.

"Your team is really close. It's nice," Olivia told her gently. It was her way of helping Emily not dwell on whatever it was she'd just seen. She caught the slight smiles on everyone but Hotch's face. From what it looked like this team was rather like her own team. A family.

"Yeah. I know," Emily replied, a tiny smile lingering on her face despite everything she'd been through.

The click of the door opening caused Emily to flinch and pull away. It was only Hotch's hand on her shoulder that kept her from fully jumping out of her skin. As much as she tried to tamp down on her fears, she wasn't able to completely hide them. This unsub wasn't Doyle, but she still didn't want him anywhere near her.

Hotch caught the tiny hitch in Emily's breathing when Bill started to approach her and squeezed her arm in reassurance. Emily immediately forced herself to hide what she was feeling and watch Bill as impassively as she could.

When Bill noticed her expression shift to a more solid, determined one his face fell a little. Apparently he hadn't found the right mix this time either. No matter how strong she was, it wouldn't have mattered if he'd been successful.

"So, Miss Prentiss, you seem to be handling this alright now. Unless, of course, you're just faking~. Considering how nice and high your heat rate got, I'm guessing that's the case."

He reached toward her and grinned happily when he saw her cringe away at first.

"Ah yes, that's what I thought!" he continued, much bubblier now.

Emily forced herself to stay calm as he peeled the monitoring device off. He gave her cheek a happy little pat that would have had her pulling away had she been expecting it. Since it was so sudden, she was in too much shock to even respond before he turned away.

"I think that's enough for one day," he sang to all of them as he headed toward the door. "You'll all need your beauty sleep to be prepared for tomorrow~."

The unsub twirled on his heel to give them a goofy wave goodbye before walking out the door. When the door clicked shut, the agents' eyes met. They weren't really sure what to think. After what had happened, a moment of respite could be just as much of a bad thing as a good one.

"I get the feeling that this is just the calm before the storm," Morgan stated, breaking the silence.

"Most likely," Rossi confirmed. "Emily?"

He wanted to be sure the storm hadn't already hit without them knowing. While Prentiss seemed to be in control, she was more quiet than usual, and he knew she was good at hiding things. Rossi watched her after the question, but she seemed to be somewhere else.

"Emily."

She still didn't focus on him, but she at least answered.

"Do you know how close you came to being killed?"

All heads swung toward her in confusion. She had never really spoken much about what had happened when she was with Doyle. They'd come to suspect she'd left to protect them almost right away, but this was some of the first proof they'd gotten.

"Doyle was planning on taking you out first."

She finally met Rossi's eyes, her own gaze unsteady.

"But he didn't," Rossi told her.

"No. He didn't," Emily confirmed.

She seemed a touch more relaxed, but Rossi could see she was distracted. That could easily mean she was hiding something. He needed to make sure it wasn't what he thought.

"Did he in your dream?"

Emily's head shot up in surprise.

"What? No! No. Nothing really different happened. Honest."

Rossi nodded, trusting her. She seemed genuine, and if she wasn't, Hotch would look after her.

"Everyone should try to get some rest," Hotch broke in, taking the attention off of Emily.

"You make that sound really easy," JJ murmured. She doubted she'd be getting any sleep no matter how frayed her nerves were or how tired she was.

"As hard as it may be, we're all going to need it."

0~0~0~0

It took a few hours, but eventually sleep had overcome almost everyone. JJ had attempted to stay awake but had eventually drifted off sitting up. Her head was resting on a sleeping Rossi's leg. Morgan and Olivia were sprawled against the wall a short distance away from each other. Without anything to keep them distracted worry had driven them both into sleep. Only Emily and Hotch remained awake.

Hotch seriously doubted Emily would be getting any rest. As the others had started to drift off, she'd turned away from him, rested her head on the wall, and remained still, likely in hopes of convincing him she was asleep. Hotch knew better though. The tenseness in her shoulders and uneven breathing told him she was awake. His suspicions were proven correct when she began picking at the skin around her nails.

"Prentiss."

She stilled immediately, hoping he was just checking to see if she was awake or asleep.

"I know you're awake, Emily."

So much for that. She turned a questioning eye on him.

"What you told Rossi."

Emily knew what he was asking but kept her mouth shut. She wasn't just going to volunteer information if she could help it.

"Sergio?"

Emily winced, her suspicions confirmed. There was no way Hotch was going to let her out of this one. She was going to have to answer him.

"No. It's not like that. I'm telling you the truth. Nothing different happened."

Emily met his eyes solidly. Hotch didn't need any more proof than that. He nodded and let it go.

"Try and sleep, Prentiss."

"Yeah. Sure, Hotch," she answered even though she knew it was impossible.


	12. Chapter 12 Put A Rush On It

Chapter Twelve – Put A Rush On It

The door slamming into the wall jerked everyone into wakefulness the next morning. Emily had shot to her feet right away, and it was only Hotch's quick reflexes that prevented her from panicking completely in her heightened and adrenalized state. He held her arm firmly, letting his grip be her anchor to the present. Morgan and Olivia were on their feet as well, tense and ready. The door had never slammed open like that before. It could hardly be a good sign.

Rossi was a little slower on the uptake, but JJ covered for him. She was on the end of her chain hovering near him. There wasn't much she would actually be able to do, but she stood ready regardless.

Bill stormed into the room, obviously irritated. The profilers immediately noted the change in behavior and became more wary. While not a profiler, Olivia had picked up on the behavior shift as well. Her eyes narrowed a bit. Something had obviously happened, and it probably wasn't something good for them.

"They're going to ruin the entire experiment!" the unsub raved. "Ruin it!"

He started pacing around the room, careful to stay out of his prisoners' reach. His face was twisted in agitation and fury, and he continued to clench and unclench his hands.

"Peace and quiet for so long and now… now…"

Bill threw his hands up in frustration, unable to voice the thought. He hadn't planned on any of the previous test subjects being found. It was all over the news and putting a major cramp in his plans. Irritating indeed! Well, he was just going to have to rush things a little bit. It shouldn't alter his data too much. If it did, well, there were always more test subjects. A scientist's work was never done!

He nodded in approval of his own plan. This was still going to work out.

"Okay then!" he cheered, once more his usual excited self. "Let's get started shall we? There's no time to lose."

Clapping his hands in excitement, he bounded out the door to go prepare. When the door clicked shut again, the BAU agents and Olivia could only look at each other in surprise.

"What the hell is up with him? He some fast acting version of bi-polar or something?" Morgan demanded.

"I doubt it," JJ replied. "Did you see him while he was pacing? The look on his face made me think that he was trying to figure something out."

"It worked too," Rossi returned.

"Something very specific set him off," Hotch confirmed as he considered everything that had happened. "And he seems to have found a way to overcome it."

"Overcome what?" Olivia asked.

"Something that's getting in the way of his experiment," Morgan informed her. "Whatever happened isn't letting him work the way he wants to anymore."

"Like construction? He said there was no more peace and quiet…" she mused.

"Maybe. Or a boss from above putting pressure on him."

Emily shook her head, disagreeing with Morgan. The discussion into their unsub's profile had given her something to focus on besides the dream, and she'd jumped in with a vengeance.

"I can't see this guy working for someone else. He's running the show the way he wants to run it. I know we haven't seen any of them, but people have to be doing his bidding."

"They are," Olivia confirmed. "They brought you all down here."

Hotch jumped on the new information, immediately probing for more details.

"How many?"

"One for each of you. Bill was directing them every step of the way."

"And they obeyed?"

Olivia nodded. "Every word without question. It didn't seem like they were being threatened or coerced at all. Some of them even looked to him for more direction."

"That's a lot of control," Rossi pointed out.

"Either they fear him to the point of complete submission…" JJ began.

"Or they have full belief in his plan," Emily finished.

Hotch agreed with them and considered everything they knew once more.

"What about Reid?" Hotch asked. "Could he have something to do with the unsub's mood shift?"

"You think he put something together?" Emily asked curiously.

"If he was on the right track to finding us it would definitely upset the unsub," Rossi agreed.

"If that's the case, let's hope whatever he found seems as on track to Reid as it does to our unsub," Morgan responded.

They were about to continue into the possibilities of what Reid could have found when the door opened again. The unsub bustled in whistling happily to himself. He ignored all of the eyes on him and continued to make his way over to Emily and Hotch before kneeling to dig in his bag.

As usual, Hotch's face gave nothing away. Despite everything she'd been through, Emily barely showed him any expression either. When Bill finally looked up at the two of them he frowned.

"There's no reason to be so serious! Smiles and laughter make everything~ better. You really should try it some time."

"You want us to try to smile and laugh while you're attempting to show us our worst nightmares?" Emily asked incredulously.

Bill visibly thought about that for a moment and then beamed down at her.

"That's _exactly_ what I'm saying! For you at least. I'm done with you, so now would be a fine time for you to test something else!"

"If Emily and I aren't needed any more, why don't you let us go? It would be less of a hassle for you if we weren't here, and you'd have more time for everyone else," Rossi explained.

"Oh no, no, no, no! That wouldn't work! Then I would have to spend all~ that time planning~ where you should end up. It takes _a lot_ of time you know. So many details."

Their plan to get one of them out to bring rescue to the others wasn't going to work. Bill had no intention of freeing or killing any of them until he was done with the experiment.

"Nope!" Bill sang, drawing Rossi's thoughts out of other negotiation strategies to try. "You're all staying here with me! So smile and get used to it."

He used his fingers to pull his own lips up into a smile to demonstrate for Rossi before turning back to Hotch and Emily.

"Are you ready for round two, Miss Prentiss?"

Emily stared at him in shock, all color drained from her face. "Wh-what?"

Bill just smiled at her response for a moment before breaking into hysterical laughter and waved his hand at her.

"I'm kidding you silly goose! You're all done. I'm here for your team leader I believe he's called."

"If you're here for me then stop targeting Prentiss and get on with it."

Hotch's dark eyes bored into Bill's conveying clearly that he wasn't afraid. Bill could bring on whatever he wanted; Hotch was ready. The unsub watched Hotch for a moment longer before turning to Emily with a laugh.

"Is he always~ so impatient~?"

"Only when dealing with people who think they're better than they are," Olivia piped up from across the room.

Emily looked strained, and Olivia wanted to get the attention off of her. Besides, being antagonistic was the role she played. Bill just chuckled, unconcerned.

"Cocky little thing aren't you? Don't worry. We'll take care of that soon enough~. But first!"

He swung back toward Hotch and grinned a wide, Cheshire smile down at him.

"Let's get you ready to go to dream land, shall we? It's like Disney World only better. More memorable you could say. Don't worry! The trip is short, but the time spent there is much longer~. You'll have a fantastic time!"


	13. Chapter 13 Hell With An Eye

Chapter Thirteen – Hell With An Eye

Author's Note: Hotch's dream is from the episode 100 (5x7). Keep in mind that as Bill gets better the dreams are going to be diverging more and more from what happened in the actual episodes.

* * *

Hotch went down faster than any of the others had. Within ten minutes of being injected with the drug he was asleep at Emily's feet. Emily stayed close by, ready to help him if he needed it. Or more realistically, when he needed it.

Emily wasn't the only one keeping an eye on her boss. The rest of the team was too, though Rossi was watching closer than the others. Hotch may have started to move on, but Rossi knew his friend. The dream would likely cause the wound Haley's death had caused in Hotch's heart to open up again.

Olivia noticed the pensive looks the agents were giving their leader, and it made her uneasy. They seemed to already know what was coming. For now Hotch seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but she knew it wouldn't last long.

"It's going to be bad, isn't it?" she whispered to Morgan.

He glanced her way and frowned.

"Why do you think that?"

Olivia arched an eyebrow at him, and Morgan immediately gave in. It made sense that Olivia had figured that out. After all, they were being pretty obvious.

"Yeah. Really bad."

He wasn't sure if he should say more. It really wasn't his place, but Olivia would probably piece it together eventually. She didn't push for information, and he decided it would be best to give her the basics.

"An unsub we'd been after for awhile killed Hotch's wife. Would have killed his son too if Hotch hadn't gotten there when he did."

Olivia's breath had caught at the first sentence, and she'd stared at him in shock as she listened to the rest. No wonder they were all worried.

0~0~0~0

_There were tear tracks on his face, and he had no idea why. Hotch rarely cried. He could count the number of times he had let tears fall as an adult on two hands. So why was he crying now?_

_The pure white room he'd been surrounded by was suddenly flooded with red. Staring back at him from all of the walls was the eye of providence drawn in blood. No matter where he looked, he couldn't escape it. The Reaper. George Foyet._

"_Haley."_

_It was a whispered word, but that was all it took to break the spell of the room. The floor beneath Hotch's feet suddenly gave way, and he fell. Hotch felt like he was being torn in two. While he could feel the steering wheel under one hand and a cell phone in the other, he wasn't in a car. Or at least not all of him was. All he could see was a blur around him until his rapid flight from the room slowed outside of a white house with a gated driveway._

_He knew the house even though he only saw it for an instant before he was ushered right through the walls to hover above the living room. Jack was playing with his toys while Haley stood beside him. Only a short distance from them both was Foyet._

_Hotch nearly panicked and desperately called out to Haley to run, to get away, but she didn't seem to hear him. It was then that he heard his own voice drifting toward him from the phone in Haley's hand._

"_If you touch her…"_

_He was rather proud of how deep and commanding the words were. Foyet didn't seem to be impressed. As Foyet moved toward her, gun in hand, Hotch could see her flinch. The fear was obvious in her eyes, but he could tell she was trying not to show it to Jack._

_Hotch didn't even hear the words that followed, unable to take his focus off of Haley. Never before had he seen her so afraid and yet so strong. At one point she seemed to almost crumble until his own voice rang out again._

"_Show him no weakness, no fear."_

_Hotch knew that was much easier said than done, yet Haley managed it somehow. He wanted to draw her into his arms, hold her, protect her, tell her how proud of her he was, but he couldn't move. When Jack took the phone Hotch's heart leaped into his throat._

"_I need you to work the case, Jack."_

_Even as the familiar conversation happened in front of him, Hotch could only watch Haley's face. She was so close to tears. So close to completely falling apart._

"_Hug your mom for me."_

_Jack immediately moved to his mom. Hotch saw the instant Haley's expression changed. It was in her eyes. She knew this would be the last time she ever got to hold her son, and he didn't blame her in the least for holding him as tight as she did. Hotch could only watch in agony as Jack darted off to do as he'd asked._

_Then the gun was at Haley's head and tears streamed down her face as Foyet stroked her cheek. The next moments were a blur. He only caught bits and pieces of their last conversation._

"_You're so strong…"_

"… _sign up for this…"_

"…_neither did you…"_

"_He needs to know you weren't always so serious, Aaron."_

_Tears were streaming down Hotch's face again as he tried to reach for her. He had no idea how she'd managed to stay so strong and so calm through all of this. She deserved so much more than she'd gotten. He'd failed her._

"_I love you," he whispered even though he knew she couldn't hear him like this. "I love you, Haley."_

_The sound of three gunshots ripped through the air, and Hotch was sent spinning out of control._

0~0~0~0

Emily had been expecting Hotch to cry out, to scream at Foyet, to rage against the unfairness of it all. She hadn't been expecting to hear Hotch softly murmur his wife's name. When she looked down at his face again, she found he was crying silently in his sleep.

"Hotch…"

Reaching down, Emily gently wiped the tears away. It probably was a useless gesture since they would be replaced by more in a second, but she wanted to do it anyway.

"Emily?" JJ asked softly, her eyes filled with worry.

Emily simply shook her head and brushed away her own tears. Hotch was going to need her to be strong. She couldn't lose it now.

0~0~0~0

"_You should have taken the deal."_

_The sinister voice echoed around Hotch as he ran up the driveway. The house in front of him swayed and bucked, at times appearing to duplicate. Everything was blending together and shifting to the point that he couldn't make sense of it. The instant he reached the knob and pushed the door in the movement stopped and the world became still and silent._

_He held his breath as he made his way into the house. While he knew deep down what he was going to find, he still didn't want to accept it. The blood trail was a neon sign flashing in his face on the white carpet. Before he'd really started to climb the steps he was at the top and standing over her._

_His Haley._

_Her plaid, purple shirt was covered in blood, as was her porcelain skin. Hotch couldn't find any part of her that hadn't been graced with her own blood. Even one foot, the shoe missing, had streams of red coursing over it like the veins running beneath her skin. Veins where blood no longer actively flowed._

_Hotch desperately wanted to stay there, rooted to her side, but he knew he couldn't. Jack was still out there, and Foyet was still free. He whirled, firing into the flowered curtains hanging by the window with a wordless growl. The curtains ripped from the wall as the person hidden behind them fell. Hotch shoved them aside in defiance and stared down at Foyet's body._

_He didn't have a second to react when Foyet's eyes snapped open, and he launched his attack. Hotch went down, and Foyet was immediately on him. They traded round after round of punches, neither getting the upper hand. Then Hotch felt the floor disappear beneath his feet, and he went tumbling down the stairs._

_It took him awhile to pull himself together after the fall. Foyet's giddy laughter hung in Hotch's ears as he tried to get his feet under him again._

"_I'm going to tell him that it was all your fault."_

_With that, Foyet disappeared from the top of the stairs and headed down the hall._

_Jack. Jack. Jack!_

_He had to get up. He had to go after Foyet. Had to stop him from killing Jack._

_Hotch made it to his feet and started forward, but it felt like he was wading through jello. Time seemed to be in slow motion. Hotch couldn't get there fast enough, and he watched in horror as Foyet walked into his office. As he struggled forward he saw Foyet lift the lid to the storage bin Jack was hiding in._

_Suddenly time returned to normal. Hotch was on Foyet in an instant, yanking the man away from his son's hiding place. The two went down and Hotch didn't waste a moment in connecting his fist with Foyet's face._

_Again, and again, and again._

_For Haley. For Jack. For Sam Kassmeyer. For all of those people Foyet had killed. For all of the lives he had destroyed._


	14. Chapter 14 Such A Big Girl

Chapter Fourteen– Such a Big Girl

Hotch's heart rate had spiked at the end, and he'd begun screaming incoherently in rage. His fists were clenched tight and fury suffused his face.

"Wake him up, Emily!" Rossi cried out once he'd seen what was happening. If this kept up Hotch could end up hurting himself.

"I'll try, but I'm not sure I actually can."

"Be careful, Prentiss," Morgan warned. "You don't know how he'll react. At this rate he could slug you."

Emily winced but nodded. Morgan was right. If she didn't go about this just the right away it could turn out badly. Hotch likely wouldn't know where he was or who he was with right away. She pulled against her chains, trying desperately to reach his shoulder. It was a close call, but she managed to snag his shirt and pull.

"Hotch! Come on, Hotch, wake up!" she pleaded as she tugged again on his clothes.

After managing to twine her fingers around his upper arm, Emily pulled back hard. Hotch snapped awake and whirled toward Emily, fury in his eyes. Emily saw it and prepared herself to defend against his blows while she tried to pull him back to the present.

"He's dead, Hotch! Foyet's dead!"

He stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment before he shuddered and let his raised fists drop. It took him awhile to slow his ragged breaths. When he finally managed and looked up, he found Emily still holding her hands up to let him know she wasn't a threat.

"It's okay," Emily assured when she saw his eyes on her.

She could only watch in agony as he squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered again. Before she could even consider coming up with something to say or do to help ease his pain, Hotch spoke up.

"He almost got Jack."

Morgan's head shot up.

"What?"

They'd all been there when Hotch's world had almost been completely destroyed. All of them knew what the Reaper had done and what he would have continued to do had Hotch not arrived when he did. As far as Morgan knew, Foyet hadn't come close to killing Jack after he'd been sent to hide.

"Aaron?" Rossi prodded gently when his friend remained silent.

Hotch swallowed hard before continuing, unable to meet their eyes as he spoke.

"Instead of both of us going down the stairs after I… found Haley… only I did. Foyet went to my office."

He didn't need to say the rest of the words. They all knew that was where Jack had been hiding.

"Oh, Hotch…" JJ said gently, her heart tearing for him. She couldn't even imagine how much pain he had to be in. If she had seen her own son almost killed it would break her, and what Hotch had seen had almost been a reality.

Emily snagged Hotch's wrist, forcing him to look at her.

"Listen to me," she said firmly. "That didn't happen. Jack's just fine. Understand?"

Hotch returned her gaze firmly. Only the fact that Emily had worked so long with him let her see the trembling in his eyes.

"I know."

Know or not, it was hard to get the image out of his head.

0~0~0~0

Bill tipped back in his chair to prop his feet up and tuck his hands behind his head as he gazed at the screen in front of him. He was rather enjoying the show the agents were putting on for him. It certainly would have been amusing if the team leader had actually struck one of his own agents. Oh well.

A slow smile spread across his face when Agent Hotchner started explaining what he'd seen in his dream. It was excellent really. Bill wouldn't even need to ask questions now. Agent Hotchner had simply provided him with the answers on a silver platter without realizing it.

Grabbing his notebook in giddy excitement, Bill began jotting down notes. His drug combination had worked well based on what Hotch had said, but it could have been just a teensy bit better. If it had been perfect, this Jack fellow would have been taken or found or killed or whatever it was the agent had been so afraid would happen. He twirled his pen as he began rambling to himself to determine the appropriate next steps.

"I need to up the dose somehow. Either increase just that one or keep the ratio the same while raising the overall dosage. Hm… decisions, decisions."

Well, there were three more test subjects left in this batch. If the next one didn't provide quite the right outcome then he had one more chance to get it right. Two if he didn't mind not hitting the detective with the best he had to offer.

Bill sighed morosely. He would have to just see how the next two went and go from there. First things first, he had to go retrieve his supplies from today's first experiment and perhaps feed them. Then he would deal with the next test concoction.

"I'm on my way, my dears," Bill sang excitedly as he hurried out of the observation room of his lab. "Never fear! I have not forgotten you~!"

0~0~0~0

At the sound of the door opening Emily had caught Hotch's arm. The silent conversation that had followed was enough to put Hotch in the right frame of mind to face their unsub without trying to punch his face in. After what he had seen, only Hotch would be able to appear so fully in control so quickly. He only seemed unsettled when Bill said he would be back shortly for another round.

"He's getting sloppy. Rushing," Rossi said when the door clicked closed behind Bill.

"Why? Because he's already preparing for another round?" Morgan asked.

"He didn't ask any questions," JJ said, unsure at first but growing in confidence as she continued to explain. "He has to ask what we saw or he won't get the information he wants. This time he didn't ask anything."

She glanced at Rossi to confirm that was what he'd been thinking and received a nod in agreement.

"Unless…" Emily began. When Rossi and JJ turned their attention to her she continued. "Unless he got what he wanted."

"Audio," Olivia mused, remembering how much Hotch had shared with Emily after waking up.

"So no matter what we're giving him the answers he wants," Morgan growled.

"Seems that way," Olivia returned sadly.

The room fell silent again for awhile, their individual thoughts overtaking them. Olivia couldn't help sneaking peeks at JJ every once in awhile. After JJ noticed she called Olivia out on it.

"Sorry," Olivia responded. "You're just so calm."

"Calm?"

"You're next. You have to know that."

"I know I am."

Only JJ's time in front of the media allowed her to hide her flinch and keep a straight face. She knew Olivia was right, and she was terrified of what was to come. Not that she was going to let their unsub know that. Of course if he had audio in the room he'd find out soon enough that she was scared. She had little doubt the experience would leave her screaming whether she wanted it to or not.

0~0~0~0

"JJ."

Morgan's warning pulled JJ's attention to him briefly. She nodded and focused on the door, mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

Bill bounded in with his usual exuberance and headed right for JJ. He beamed down at her only to receive a steely look in response.

"Aw! That's not nice, sweetheart! You shouldn't give _anyone_ that type of look. Seems that our little detective is being a bad influence on you~."

He shot a look over his shoulder at Olivia.

"I don't need any help in knowing how to deal with someone like you," JJ corrected firmly.

"Is that so?"

Bill tipped his head to the side, thinking for the moment. Then he simply squealed excitedly.

"Such a big girl! I bet your friends are so proud! Now let's get you all set and ready to go, shall we?"

After he had everything set up and removed the needle from her arm, he smiled at JJ.

"Now don't try to be all big~ and strong~ this time. You won't be able to fight it."

When he noticed that JJ's eyes were already drooping even as she fought to keep them open he patted her cheek.

"You see?"

Bill stood and gave them all a little wave.

"Be good!"


	15. Chapter 15 Hell With A Dog

Chapter Fifteen – Hell With A Dog

Author's Note: JJ's dream comes from The Big Game (2x14) with a touch from the first few minutes of Revelations (2x15).

* * *

_Everything was eerily indistinct, like the sharp edges of the world had suddenly been blurred and went fuzzy. It made JJ uneasy, and when the wind howled past, rustling the corn stalks, she rubbed her arms nervously. As her eyes darted around she spotted a red and gray pickup truck sitting in the front of the house. Around the other side was an old tractor. Nothing moved or made a sound besides the wind._

"_Hello?" JJ whispered as she edged forward._

_She didn't want to be alone, yet she didn't want to find anyone else either. Whoever she found could easily be someone she wouldn't want to run into. As she passed by the house a flickering of light caught her attention. Pausing, she peered through the window to find a wide array of computers looming up in front of her. Their dancing screensavers spun and whirled in intricate designs, transfixing her. For some reason the sight of them tied her stomach in knots._

_JJ backed away nervously only to feel a hand suddenly clamp onto her shoulder. Screaming in shock she spun around._

0~0~0~0

When JJ had gone down, Rossi had reached out to catch her head so it wouldn't slam into the ground. Just like Hotch, it had taken no time at all for her to be completely asleep.

"She's already shaking."

Morgan's head shot up, and he focused on JJ. From where he was he couldn't tell if she was trembling or not, but he'd take Rossi's word on it.

"That's not good…"

"No," Emily agreed. "Is she already that scared or do you think it's some side effect?"

Bad thoughts drifted into Olivia's head. Drugs were always dangerous. You never knew how someone would react to them. That could have been what was going on with JJ, or it could be even worse than that. It could be an overdose.

"Keep an eye on her, Dave," Hotch directed.

He seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Olivia was. They needed to make sure that JJ didn't suddenly get worse or stop breathing.

0~0~0~0

"_Dang it, Reid! Where did you come from?" JJ demanded as she forced herself to slow her breathing down._

_Reid didn't bother answering her. He just pointed at the big red barn a short distance from the house. The double doors were both hanging open, but JJ couldn't see inside. She didn't need words to understand what he was getting at._

_As they headed toward the barn, guns out, the wind picked up again. It made the barn doors creak ominously, and she couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. JJ swallowed hard and shoved the bad feeling that was boiling up in her stomach down hard. When Reid gently touched her arm she jumped. He pointed at her and the front door then to himself and curled his finger to show he was going around back._

"_Reid, are you sure we should split up?"_

_Her brief glance toward the darkness in the barn was all it took for Reid to disappear on her. She was on her own now._

_JJ shuffled into the bar unable to see much of anything. All was quiet except for the rattling of chains hanging from the rafters overhead. After a few more steps forward she felt something squish under her foot. Trembling, JJ glanced down and slowly lifted her foot. Blood._

"_Help me."_

_The ghostly voice drew JJ's attention to a stall at the back of the barn. A woman was kneeling on a dirty mattress, each wrist bound in rope that was tied to opposite sides of the stall._

_JJ's eyes widened in shock and she reached for the woman, only to have her vanish in a spray of blood. The entire mattress and much of the stall was soaked in it. Littered in a few places on the mattress were the remaining solid pieces of what had once been a human being._

_JJ reeled backward and spun around to bolt only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a growl. Slowly she turned back around, her flashlight's beam gleaming off the eyes of three mangy black dogs. They growled again and bared their teeth which flashed white in the darkness. When one's pale tongue darted out and licked its lips, JJ's stomach dropped._

_The dogs lunged for her, and JJ screamed._

0~0~0~0

JJ's heart monitor was racing, and Rossi was beginning to worry. He'd found her skin beaded with sweat soon after the dream had begun. Not wanting to worry the others since there was nothing they could do, Rossi had kept the knowledge to himself. Unfortunately his plan wasn't going to work since JJ had started screaming. It was a soul freezing cry of terror that drew everyone's attention.

"Shit, JJ!" Morgan cried out as his eyes focused on the downed agent.

"She's terrified," Olivia murmured.

Emily bit her lip uneasily as she watched her friend suffer.

"She was having flashbacks right after it happened. Seeing it like this again has to be killing her."

Hotch glanced over at Emily after his new admission. He'd heard nothing about flashbacks. Had the incident he knew JJ was seeing not happened years ago, he would have been furious he hadn't been told. At this point it didn't matter beyond helping him realize how long it could take JJ to recover from this.

"Hang in there, JJ," Rossi told her as he brushed JJ's sweat soaked hair off her face.

0~0~0~0

_Pain radiated from JJ's left arm. She fought to ignore it just as she did the blood that dripped from the bite. For now she had to focus on shooting the two remaining dogs. She took quick aim and snapped off two more shots. The dogs went down and remained unmoving._

_Still tense, JJ strained her eyes and ears to pick up anything moving in the barn. After a short time she heard quiet footsteps coming toward her. Raising her gun once more she turned in the direction of the sound. For a moment she saw nothing, but when she finally did her heart nearly stopped. The adorable waves of blond hair on the head of a little boy._

"_Henry."_

_A light seemed to be shining down on Henry alone, highlighting him like a spotlight did on a dark stage. JJ didn't want to take her eyes off of her son, but the sound of movement behind her forced her to. The dogs she had shot and killed earlier were back on their feet again and had been joined by others. Before JJ could even blink they rocketed toward her and Henry._

_Three surrounded her and refused to go down regardless of the number of bullets she put into them. The others went for Henry. JJ felt the sharp prick of pain as a dog's teeth closed around her leg, but she didn't care. The pain she felt didn't matter. The only thing that did was reaching Henry, her precious baby boy. She struggled forward, but the dogs continued to draw her back. Snapping, tearing her skin, drawing blood, the dogs weren't going to let her reach Henry._

_No matter what she did, JJ couldn't stop them. They were going to tear her son apart, and there was nothing she could do to save him. He couldn't run, and she couldn't reach him. _

"_Henry!"_

_He looked up at her, bright blue eyes full of fear, and the dogs were on him._

"_Henry!"_

0~0~0~0

"Henry!"

The agents had all thought JJ's previous wordless screams couldn't get worse. They'd been wrong. So very wrong. Hearing JJ scream her son's name in anguish was much worse.

Emily pressed a hand to her mouth and fought back tears. Hotch looked down, his face hard as he struggled with his own grief at seeing a team member hurting so badly. Morgan swore and lashed out at the pin holding his ankle chain to the wall. While Olivia didn't know who Henry was, the pain in JJ's voice was all too obvious, and she bowed her head sadly. Rossi could only watch as tears coursed down JJ's twisted face and prayed that when she woke he would somehow be able to help her.


	16. Chapter 16 The Burn

Chapter Sixteen – The Burn

Rossi strained to wake JJ, but his attempts did nothing but elicit a whimper. It was another ten minutes before he saw any sign of her waking. She tried to curl into a ball, but the chains made it more challenging than it should have been. Rossi wanted to rest his hand on her back, but she moved out of reach.

"JJ?"

She peeled her eyes open slowly, groaning as she did. While she was definitely awake, JJ made no move to pull herself off the floor.

"JJ," Hotch pressed, hoping to draw her out. It took a few more tries before she even attempted to answer.

"Please don't, Hotch," JJ whispered in response.

She didn't want to talk about it. The images were already burned into her brain, and there was no way she could get them out. Not wanting to make them worry too much about her though, JJ slowly began to sit up. She only made it about halfway up before her pale skin took on a greenish tinge, and she lowered herself back down.

"Easy, JJ," Rossi soothed when he noticed her response to movement.

"Going to get sick."

Emily winced and glanced at Hotch. Either the drugs JJ had been given were making her sick or what she'd seen had been horrific enough to physically make her ill. Given how JJ had initially responded after the injection, Emily was betting on the first possibility. The second was probably contributing to it as well though. Hotch seemed to agree.

"JJ, if you start feeling really bad I need you to tell us."

When he received a nod in return, Hotch settled back against the wall. The movement had caused the chains binding him to rattle. In an instant JJ was huddled against the wall and breathing hard. Rossi's attention snapped to her and he couldn't stop the unease that flooded through him. He'd seen that type of reaction before. The wide, glassy eyes. Gasping breath. Tremors. Whatever JJ had seen, it had a vice-grip on her soul and wasn't letting go any time soon.

"JJ?"

She didn't even seem to hear him. Rossi tried once more, a little louder this time, but received the same result.

"PTSD," Olivia whispered, recognizing the stunned shock in JJ that she herself had experienced a few years ago.

Morgan caught the word and glanced from Olivia back to JJ. It certainly seemed to make sense with what he was seeing. Figuring Rossi hadn't heard what Olivia had suggested, Morgan voiced it again. A slight frown creased Rossi's face when he'd heard.

"It would fit."

Rossi would have liked to reach out and give her something to physically hold on to, something to anchor her in the present, but he couldn't. She was too far away.

"Rossi, you better do something, man. He's coming," Morgan warned. If the unsub tried to get too close to JJ when she wasn't sure where she was it could turn ugly.

Bill skipped his way in a few moments later and stood surveying the group. When his eyes landed on JJ he grinned happily. He'd seen and heard her earlier terror, and it appeared that she was still suffering from it even now that she was awake. It was fantastic! Of course the puking afterward was far from a desired effect, but details! He could work on solving that later.

As he moseyed his way up to JJ he saw her flinch away, which only widened his smile. He could use this. Yes, indeed. Pivoting elegantly, he headed toward Hotch and Emily and squatted down in front of them.

"Since I know you care sooo much about your friend, I think it's the perfect~ opportunity for us to play a game. No, no, don't get _too_ excited!"

Hotch's eyes narrowed slightly, and Emily continued to watch him warily. Neither one really liked where this was going, but they didn't have much of a choice.

"JJ seems too scared to let me get close to her. I'm sure if I tried to get that monitor off her right now she would panic~ and hurt~ herself. Now, I'm willing to give her a few minutes, but of course, there's a condition."

"You're not going to get anywhere if you don't say what it is," Emily warned.

"Tsk!" Bill replied, waving his hand airily as if to say it was nothing. "It isn't anything _big_. You just need to answer some questions."

It was the perfect opportunity to gather data, and he doubted they would refuse since it would help one of their own. He wasn't disappointed.

"First then, do you know what she saw?"

"How would we know that?" Emily demanded.

"Well, she did mention what she figured it would be. I bet you know _exactly_ what she was talking about. Don't you?"

"Probably," Hotch confirmed tersely. If Bill wanted real answers, he was going to need to work for them.

Bill simply nodded and appeared thoughtful for awhile. When he finally asked the next question, Emily and Hotch were caught a little bit off guard.

"Who is Henry?"

Emily clamped her mouth shut, unwilling to share that. Hotch didn't seem any happier about the question than Emily.

"Could be the king of England," Olivia piped up from the other side of the room. She hadn't wanted to say anything and her instincts and training told her not to, but she'd seen the looks on Emily's and Hotch's faces. They didn't want to answer, and they may have decided not to at all. Having this man mad at one person was enough. It didn't need to be three, possibly four.

Bill swung toward her, frowning and irritated.

"You do realize that is not cute _at all_, don't you, Detective?"

Olivia simply shrugged, and Bill's eyes narrowed further. When she'd been acting that way before, it hadn't bothered him. Now though, she was disrupting his data collection, and that was far too important to destroy. He turned his head to look at Emily and Hotch, eyes blazing.

"I take it this Henry is someone important who wasn't supposed to be in that situation."

When he received no answer, Bill took the silence for a yes. Nodding, he strode purposefully toward JJ. Without any kind of hesitation or compassion, he yanked the monitoring device from her and left the room.

0~0~0~0

She was so infuriating! Absolutely infuriating! Bill caught sight of one of his men approaching, probably with a stupid question. Not wanting to deal with him, he narrowed his eyes dangerously at the man. He got the message and scuttled away. At least someone got it. The detective definitely didn't. Something needed to be done about her and soon. He would force himself to wait though. If he got the drug combination perfect in the end the waiting would be worth it.

Bill allowed a slow smile to spread across his face. He would make sure the waiting would be worth it. One more trial to get it just right. He was under a time limit though and didn't want to risk losing the chance with Olivia. If he worked fast he could get the last agent ready tonight. That would leave tomorrow morning to Olivia. It should work, and if it didn't, well, he could always take her with him.

Yes, this could work. As long as he timed it right.

"Don't worry, _dear_ detective. All of your efforts to anger me will pay off. I promise~."

0~0~0~0

"Manipulative bastard," Emily growled once the unsub was gone.

"We probably just saw one of the reasons why he has so many loyal followers. He knows how to play them," Hotch confirmed.

"He's really good at it too. We didn't have much choice in answering." Emily paused and glanced over at Olivia. "You put yourself in a really bad spot."

Olivia met Emily's eyes evenly and nodded. She knew exactly what she had done. She would very likely pay dearly for it too.

"Probably another reason he keeps followers. He has a fiery temper; it's just slow burning on the start up."

She may not be a profiler, but Olivia had a lot of experience on the job. Reading people wasn't difficult for her.

"It's the first true anger we've seen," Hotch confirmed. "Right now we don't know how intense his retaliation is going to be."

"Upwards of very, I would think," Rossi responded.

The others couldn't help agreeing with that. This was going to come back hard on Olivia.

"Hey."

Olivia glanced over at Morgan when she heard his voice and found him watching her intently.

"You need anything, you tell me. You ticked him off to help JJ. In my book, that's worth doing anything to help you."

"Thank you, really. I'll be fine though. You're going to need to worry about yourself."

Olivia turned away from Morgan and focused on JJ. She was still curled near the wall, head resting on her knees. JJ looked fully defeated. Olivia didn't want to end up like that, but she had a feeling she wouldn't. She'd end up a lot worse.


	17. Chapter 17 Perfect Motivation

Chapter Seventeen – Perfect Motivation

It took awhile for JJ to slowly come back to them again. As they waited, they'd given her the time she needed put pull herself together. For the most part the pairs had fallen into quiet conversations. Olivia and Morgan were simply trying to distract themselves since Olivia had quickly found that Morgan wasn't going to share anything about his potential dream. Rossi remained relatively quiet, only speaking up once in awhile to assure JJ she wasn't alone. Hotch and Emily had fallen into a deep conversation about JJ's reaction so neither one of them had to think about what they'd seen.

"I know that JJ was unsettled the first time, but this isn't like her," Emily whispered worriedly as she snatched another look at JJ.

"She usually doesn't show what she's feeling," Hotch confirmed. "It must have completely overwhelmed her."

"Did last time. After we'd found her I went to check on her in the bathroom… she ended up pointing her gun at me. It scared her that much before. This time, with Henry added…"

Hotch nodded. With that information her behavior made a little bit more sense, especially if the dogs JJ had faced during the Hankel case had gotten Henry in her dream. If Foyet had reached Jack in his dream, Hotch figured he would be reacting much the same as JJ was. It had to be tearing JJ apart, and what was worse, JJ had no access to Henry. She couldn't pull her little boy into her arms and reassure herself that he was okay.

"Hotch?" JJ whispered as she finally lifted her head. It was the first word she had said in about an hour.

When Hotch met her eyes he found that she seemed more like her old self. Her eyes weren't dull or gleaming with fear, and she was sitting straighter.

"I didn't mean to worry any of you. I'm alright."

Hotch didn't really believe that, but he would accept it.

"JJ, it's not your fault. You needed the time," Emily told her gently.

JJ rolled her eyes. She knew without a doubt that both Emily and Hotch had seen worse. More importantly, they hadn't broken down after.

"I don't know why it bothered me so much. It shouldn't have."

"He drugged you to the point that you threw up, JJ. That's a good reason to me," Morgan argued. If he was being honest, he didn't think she really looked much better. There was still a touch of green to her skin that he didn't like at all. Plus, she seemed to be straining to stay awake.

"So did everyone else, Derek."

"Only he's getting better, JJ. You know he is. Stop trying to come up with a reason why you should feel bad about what happened."

"I'm n-!"

"He so caught you, JJ. Should probably just drop it," Emily told her with a grin.

JJ sighed, knowing full well that Emily was right. She just didn't like seeing herself as weaker than the others even if it was really only in her mind.

0~0~0~0

Bill sat in his lab lost in thought, his pen tapping constantly against this work table. He couldn't make a decision about what to try next. It was a far too important test to screw up. The dose had to be dead on. Not for Agent Morgan, though that's who the drug was being given to. The importance was Olivia.

It seemed that the last dose was a bit too strong. The female agent had seen things that weren't related to her real nightmare. While it had certainly terrified her, he would rather the nightmare stay more true to form. The fear would last longer that way.

Well, enough stalling. He had work to do! Hopping off his stool, Bill headed over to his supply of drugs. After flipping through them he pulled the ones he needed. As he began measuring and mixing them Bill started humming to himself. Before long the fun would begin again and shortly after the real prize would be had.

"Tsk, tsk, detective~. You've given me a very good reason to get this right."

He giggled happily.

"And that's not a good thing. For _you_ at least. For _me_, well, it's very good for _me_. Every scientist requires good motivation!"

Not only would the motivation make him work harder, it also made the experiment more fun. He simply couldn't _wait_ to play with the little detective. She could certainly dish it out. The question would be if she could take it too. Bill was very much looking forward to finding out the answer to that question.

He was going to hit her with everything he had.

0~0~0~0

When the door clicked its usual warning of Bill's impending arrival, Olivia swung around to look at Morgan. So far he'd refused to discuss what he might see in his nightmare. If Olivia wanted to get information that could help him, she was going to need to work fast. They didn't have much time.

"What do I need to know?"

Morgan glanced at Olivia and immediately saw the determination gleaming in her eyes. He wanted to give her a good answer, but he couldn't.

"I don't know. I'm serious when I say I don't know what I'll see."

Olivia didn't get the chance to respond before their unsub started over. Bill stepped into the room and remained motionless for a moment before he took a dramatically deep breath.

"Ahhh. Round five is about to begin. And, if I do say so myself, I think I got it perfect this time. Absolutely perfect~. Isn't that exciting?" he giggled, hardly able to stand still.

"It's all thanks to you, Detective. A little motivation goes a long way, and you… well, you," he drew out the second you into two syllables, "have provided wonderful~ motivation."

Olivia didn't like the sound of that at all, but she refused to let those feelings show. The chances of any of them getting out of this were slim. If she was going down, Olivia had every intention to not make it easy.

"Now, without further ado~, it's your turn, Agent Morgan."

Bill caught the flash of defiance in Morgan's eyes and knew he had to squash it immediately.

"Tsk, tsk, Agent~. I see that look in your eyes. Don't get any ideas in that bald head of yours. Being the a-maz-ing scientist that I am, the exact specifications for your dose are written down. It would take me an incredibly short amount of time to make a new syringe if I needed to use this one on, say, Agent Jareau?"

Rossi shifted slightly, putting his body between JJ and the unsub as much as he could. JJ's breathing was still shallow and fast. If she received another dose, it could very well kill her.

Morgan growled but did nothing more. Bill's message had come across loud and clear. If Morgan fought, JJ or one of the others would pay for it. He couldn't let that happen. Without a word, Morgan put his hands behind his back.

"There. You see? That's why I use human~ lab rats and not regular~ rats. They're much more compliant. That, and they're not as creepy~."

Bill shuddered in horror.

"Really, I have never seen the draw in using rats. Foul~ little creatures~, especially the _tails_!"

He shook his head in disgust and knelt before Morgan to begin attaching the heart monitor. When it was set and ready to go, he waved a hand at Morgan's arm, indicating he could bring it around front. Once he'd slipped the needle in and sent the liquid coursing through Morgan's veins, he began to stand.

Morgan had decided to take a chance though. He snagged Bill by the collar and yanked him forward until they were only inches apart.

"You listen to me you sick bastard. You're going to pay for this. I promise you that."

By that point Morgan's words were starting to slur together as the drugs took affect. He would be out in a moment or two, but still he tried to solider on.

"I promise…"

Seeing that Morgan was out cold, Bill just reached out and patted his cheek.

"I'm just going to assume that's the fear~ talking. So strong looking on the outside~. I guess it doesn't go all the way through, hmm?"

He turned to grin at Olivia. A grin that was more than just happy teasing. A shark's grin.

"We'll see how deep your strength goes soon, sweetheart~. Yes we will indeed."

Olivia forced herself to remain still and not allow the intense desire to shudder to escape. She managed, but it took every ounce of her willpower to do it. Had her mouth not been so dry from fear she would have shot back a retort of "bring it." As it was, she couldn't even open her mouth to start the words.

"She can handle it," Hotch stated simply.

Bill swung toward him, eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Suspicion confirmed, Hotch continued on.

"Don't underestimate her and overestimate yourself."

He caught a slight flicker of a smile from Olivia for a brief moment and saw her mouth "thank you." Hotch kept his eyes on Bill, not wanting to give Olivia away, but he gave her a subtle nod in return.

Bill growled, eyes blazing.

"We will see."


	18. Chapter 18 Hell With A Blackout

Chapter Eighteen – Hell With A Blackout

Author's Note: Morgan's dream is from Our Darkest Hour (5x23).

* * *

_A growing feeling of dread raced through Morgan as he ran, urgency building. The air was nearly suffocating and hot on his skin. He could feel his shirt sticking to his back. Everything around him was pitch black, yet he seemed to know right where he was going. The sound of footsteps beside him drew his attention._

"_He has Kristin and Ellie."_

_Morgan nodded, knowing Matt Spicer was right. They didn't have a lot of time. The two men continued forward until the darkness coalesced into a street. All of the lights were out because of the blackout, yet Morgan and Spicer knew right where to go. A white house with a red roof, the inside just as dark as the rest._

_The smell of cigarettes drifted on the breeze, growing stronger the closer they got to the house. It had an almost rotten feel to it, corrupted and tainting all that it touched. If Morgan hadn't been so intent on getting there to save Spicer's family he might have gagged. Right now though, he couldn't worry about it._

_Spicer split off from him, heading toward the front door and leaving the side for Morgan. They should be waiting for backup, but that was out of the question now. Pulling his gun, Morgan moved forward. The instant he pushed the door open a deep sense of foreboding poured over him. It was so strong the wave almost physically pressed against him, driving him backwards. This was going to end badly. He knew that it was, yet he had no choice but to continue._

_He stepped forward slowly, eyes constantly scanning for danger. Instead of outright danger, he found something worse. A man's body, an obvious gunshot to the head. When Morgan reached down to check his pulse, the instant his fingers brushed skin the man disintegrated, falling apart like a piece of wood rotted completely through. Morgan's heart jacked up. The Prince of Darkness really did corrupt everything he touched._

0~0~0~0

"It's not starting too bad so far," Emily stated once they finally heard the increase in Morgan's heart rate.

"It will only get worse from here," Rossi warned. He was staying close to JJ, knowing being nearby would provide her the support she needed but would never ask for.

"Detective," Hotch paused until he had Olivia's attention. "We'll try to get through to him and figure out what he saw."

Olivia nodded. She would trust them to help, but if Morgan needed her, she would assist them. Or at least she would try to.

0~0~0~0

_The closed door at the end of the hallway loomed before Morgan. He reached out to push it open, gun at the ready. His eyes immediately locked onto the bed where Spicer's sister, Kristin, and his eight year old daughter, Ellie, were huddled together._

"_Where is he?"_

_Before either woman could say anything a fist connected with the side of Morgan's face. He went down hard. Unable to move, all Morgan could do was stare at the cartoon stars dancing around his head. By the time the stars faded, Morgan's ankles were duct taped. His hands, stuck behind his back, were also duct taped._

_Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!_

_No matter how much he struggled, Morgan couldn't free himself. When Spicer showed up at the door the entire situation continued to roll downhill at an unstoppable speed. Apparently there had been a good reason for that foreboding feeling he'd felt at the door._

_Spicer and Billy Flynn were in a stand off. Spicer's gun on Flynn, Flynn's on Ellie as he held her pinned against him._

"_Drop the gun," Flynn warned._

"_Don't do it!" Morgan retaliated knowing full well what would happen if Spicer did drop his weapon. "Look at him! He's nothing but a coward!"_

_Flynn's foot came out of nowhere and connected with Morgan's side, knocking him back to the ground. All Morgan could do was watch as Spicer ignored his advice and dropped his weapon. It landed with a thud of finality._

"_No, pick it up!"_

_But he knew it was no use as Spicer dropped to his knees at the unsub's request. Only it seemed the detective still had guts left. He launched himself at Flynn only to get shoved down again. A dark cloud seemed to shimmer around Spicer. Morgan knew it was a sign of death._

"_Promise me she'll be okay, Morgan."_

_Morgan closed his eyes at Spicer's words, feeling incredibly sick to his stomach._

"_Go ahead. Promise him," Flynn teased._

_No. He wouldn't do it. It wasn't the right way to respond. Morgan shook his head, refusing to make a promise he wasn't sure he could keep. A promise that would likely get Spicer killed._

"_Do it! Promise him!" Kristin demanded._

_No, no, no. He wasn't going to promise that. Only he heard his voice saying just that._

"_Okay, I promise!"_

_The gunshot resounded in Morgan's mind, the sound mixing with his own scream of "Spicer, no!"_

_He could only stare at the red pool growing around Spicer's body while Flynn laughed and laughed. That laugh was never going to leave his head. Never. Once more Morgan pushed himself up to a sitting position._

"_You son of a –"_

"_Yes, yes, I know perfectly well what you think, Agent Morgan."_

_He held his gun up and pointed it at Kristin. Ellie screamed, and Morgan was pretty sure his own voice mingled with the sound. The gun went off a second time, and Kristin was gone._

"_Can you protect her, Agent Morgan?" Flynn laughed as he held the gun to Ellie's head. "Can you?"_

_Morgan growled in fury. Chances were he wouldn't be able to protect Ellie. He was at Flynn's mercy, and there was nothing he could do. Ellie's eyes bored into his, pleading with him. Morgan wanted to respond, but he couldn't. The gun came to rest pointing at his forehead._

"_You really are such an easy target. Now you'll get to go explain to them why you broke your promise."_

"_Ellie! No!"_

_He heard the gunshot, but instead of pain, the only thing he felt was guilt. He'd broken his promise. As his life slipped away, Morgan could only watch Ellie get dragged away. She was reaching for him, screaming for him. He was her last hope, but he would fail her. Even dead, that failure would stay with him. With him gone, there was no one to stand between Ellie and Flynn._

"_I'm sorry, Spicer. I'm sorry, man."_

0~0~0~0

"Morgan?" Emily called, voice quavering. When she didn't get a response and the heart monitor remained silent she tried again, much more frantic this time. "Morgan!"

It really hadn't been that long since the monitor had last beeped, but after the speed they'd been hearing it sound with, the sudden silence seemed to last longer than it really was. Only feeling longer or not though, it wasn't ordinary.

"Oh, God," JJ moaned as she tightened her grip on Rossi's arm.

The sound of Morgan's frantic heartbeat suddenly filled the room again. With it came strangled breaths audible to everyone regardless of where they sat.

"He's panicking. Whatever scared him was enough to stall his heart for a second," Hotch concluded.

"Then wake him up, dammit!" Rossi growled, though he could see that everything they were trying wasn't working.

JJ and Emily continued to call Morgan's name, but it wasn't doing any good.

Gritting her teeth, Olivia reached out and grabbed Morgan's wrist, yanking him close to her. She knew it probably dug the cuffs into his skin but getting him to her was more important. Olivia managed to grab his shoulder and shake him hard.

Morgan's eyes popped open, and he jerked away from her. The look in his eyes was something she knew well. She saw it in her victims every day. Dropping her voice into the soft, soothing tone she used for traumatized victims, she started trying to get through Morgan's panic. She ignored the others who were all trying to draw Morgan out and just focused on him.

"Derek, listen to me. It's going to be alright. It was just a dream."

When he still seemed frantic and unfocused, Olivia decided to try a different method.

"Look at me, Derek. Look at me. Just listen to my voice and focus on me."

Olivia continued to repeat herself for a time until she saw Morgan's eyes flicker toward hers and hold there. She allowed herself a brief moment of triumph before smiling reassuringly at him.

"It'll be okay."

"I'm alive." Disbelief. Uneasiness.

"You are." Feeling confident he wouldn't panic if she touched him now, Olivia slowly reached out and rested a hand on his arm, being careful through the entire movement to be sure Morgan saw what she was doing.


	19. Chapter 19 Defeating Death

Chapter Nineteen – Defeating Death

Olivia and Morgan remained close, talking quietly to try and ease Morgan's trembling. Morgan had shared a little bit about what had happened, and Olivia simply listened. At first it had been a struggle for Morgan, but eventually he'd felt comfortable enough to open up at least a little bit. Not once did Olivia seem to judge him for what he said or what had happened. From time to time she offered a few reassuring words to calm him or put things into perspective. It meant a lot to Morgan, and he actually seemed to listen.

He wasn't sure why he felt so at ease with Olivia, but he did. Perhaps it was the fact that she was outside of the circle of the team and could offer untainted opinions. Perhaps it was just her ability to connect. Whatever it was, it allowed Morgan to open up. While he couldn't share his deepest feelings, he gave more than enough to Olivia to ease the weight that was crushing him. The other agents left them to it. While they hadn't been able to do anything to help, Olivia had managed to reach Morgan.

"She's really good," Emily mused as she watched Olivia with her friend.

Hotch nodded, also incredibly impressed with Olivia's skill. He knew he could leave Morgan in her capable hands. Across the room, JJ and Rossi were having a similar discussion.

"I can see why she's in special victims. Empathetic, compassionate, she knows exactly the right words. Kind of reminds me of you," Rossi stated.

"I'll take that as a compliment," JJ replied around a yawn. She'd been fighting off sleep for a long time thanks to the remaining drugs in her system.

"Go ahead and rest, JJ. You won't be able to fight it forever."

JJ shook her head, refusing to give in to the temptation. She knew if she fell asleep she would be plagued by more nightmares. Perhaps not Bill's modified ones, but nightmares none the less.

0~0~0~0

By the time Bill returned to the room, Olivia had calmed Morgan enough that he could deal with the unsub without flinching. Bill seemed to be in an incredibly good mood, whistling happily to himself as he worked. Once he'd removed the monitor from Morgan, he paused to beam at the man.

"So, you actually died? That didn't happen in real life~ since you're still here." Bill giggled happily, barely able to contain his glee. "Unless~, of course, you're a zombie~, but I doubt that! Which means…"

Bill began to dig around in his bag until he found the colored streamers he'd been looking for. He waved them around and struck a pose.

"The experiment is a success!"

Again the streamers danced triumphantly, displaying the exuberant scientist's victory throughout the room. While the swirl of color signaled joy for Bill, it symbolized doom for Olivia. Having already been test subjects, the agents had little to fear. Only Olivia hadn't been subjected to the now perfected drug combo. Refusing to completely give in, she shoved down her fear and drew on her strength to shoot fire at Bill once more. It was probably useless, but she had to.

"I guess that means you don't need me then."

Bill danced his way over to her and thrust a finger into her face, stopping only an inch away from her nose.

"Wrong-o! It means that you get the best I have to offer. The very, _very_ best."

He drew out the second very, allowing the "r" to dance around for a bit. It unsettled Olivia, but she kept her eyes and body from showing it. When he patted her cheek, Olivia's hold broke. Thankfully anger broke it and not fear.

"Even if you break me, they will make you pay for it. And if they can't, the people looking for us will. That's a promise," Olivia growled darkly.

Bill just chuckled at her and stood up to leave.

"You have no idea~ what you're talking about, my dear, but go ahead and talk. I don't mind~."

He blew her a kiss before continuing.

"Enjoy your last few hours of peace~."

That said, he waved and walked out.

"It was a good try," Emily told her once the unsub was gone. "Didn't get anything, but still a good try."

"I figured it was worth a shot," Olivia grumbled, trying to keep some of her surliness up front so it would hide the rest of her emotions.

"Deserved everything you told him and worse," Rossi told her with a nod of approval.

"It made me feel better to at least let him know he'll never win in the end."

She had no doubt that he would win against her. The dream would break her. The only question was how many pieces she would be in by the end. While she knew her fate was inevitable, she refused to let him think she wouldn't be able to handle it. Olivia would stay strong for as long as she could.

0~0~0~0

Once again, the room had fallen silent. JJ had lost her fight to the remaining drugs and fallen asleep. Morgan was lost in his own thoughts, eyes unfocused as he stared at the opposite wall. Hotch had been watching him for some time now. Unlike, his other team members, Morgan had only spoken about what had happened with Olivia. While she had helped him without question, Hotch worried about what was going on in Morgan's head.

The dark churn of emotions was clearly evident in Morgan's body language. It certainly wasn't the first time Morgan had nearly allowed his thoughts after a case to consume him. This time Hotch feared it was even worse. Something needed to be done.

"Morgan."

His tone brooked no argument, so Morgan glanced up to meet his gaze. If Hotch were closer he would have seen the hollowness within Morgan. This far away, he couldn't read Morgan's eyes, but he didn't really need to.

"Who?" Nothing more needed to be said.

"The Prince of Darkness."

Hotch nodded, but inside he was sighing. That case, and more specifically, Ellie Spicer, had really gotten to him.

"He killed you?"

It wasn't a conversation Hotch wanted to have with Morgan out in the open like this, but he didn't really have a choice. Morgan squeezed his eyes tight and rubbed roughly at his forehead. He didn't want to have this conversation at all.

"Yeah, but I didn't die right away. I had to watch him drag Ellie away kicking and screaming."

Screaming for him. And he hadn't been able to do anything to help her. Morgan squeezed his eyes tightly closed again, his face taking on a pinched look.

"Morgan, it didn't end that way. Remember how it really worked out."

"JJ pulled off a miracle," Morgan grumbled.

"And you ended it for good and comforted Ellie."

Hotch had a point, and there was no way Morgan could deny it. Still, remembering what had really happened only eased the images he'd just seen a little bit, and it did even less for the emotions burning through him.

"I know I have to face it and get over it at some point, Hotch, but it's not going to be now."

"I understand," Hotch nodded. He felt the same way. Until they were out of this basement, none of them would truly be able to move on from their nightmares.


	20. Chapter 20 The Ghosts Return

Chapter Twenty – The Ghosts Return

That night was full of monsters hiding in the shadows and fear shooting up like vines to twine around a body so tightly it couldn't move. Despite knowing what the night would bring, none but Morgan could resist sleep. While not asleep, Morgan suffered through his own waking nightmares. There was no true escape.

Morgan was resting against the wall, arm draped over an upturned knee. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, lost in thought. He couldn't get Ellie's face out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. Knowing it hadn't turned out that way didn't help. What was worse, his thoughts kept flicking back to Buford and what had happened then. He had no clue where the parallel had been drawn between being a helpless target when he was a child and the target he'd become as an adult, but once it was there he couldn't ignore the idea. It festered in his head no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it.

Olivia was sleeping somewhat peacefully, at least on the outside. She was curled toward the wall, slightly tenser than she usually was when she slept. The fear over what would happen in the morning was twisting her dreams and sending them down a darker path. Every once in awhile Olivia would moan and shift before becoming still again. While he was right next to her, Morgan wasn't bothered. None of what he'd heard so far was enough to really worry him.

He wasn't worried until about halfway through the night when he heard her whimper. A quick glance over revealed she was curled into a ball. Her breathing caught, and she jerked awake.

"You alright?"

Olivia's eyes snapped to him. When she realized who he was, she relaxed.

"Fine. You?"

Morgan shook his head, a wry smile on his face.

"Heh. Been better. Been worse too."

Olivia nodded knowing that feeling. She remained silent though, hoping maybe Morgan would open up to her. They'd spoken right after he'd woken up, but the longer he'd been awake the more he'd closed off.

"You know, it easily could have gone down just like it did in my dream."

Olivia was actually surprised he'd shared with her, but she was ready to jump on the chance to talk. Not only would it keep her distracted, it would help him.

"What do you mean?"

"I was at his mercy, Detective. He had me bound hand and foot. I couldn't move."

"And he had a gun," Olivia finished for him.

Morgan nodded. "He could have shot me, could have killed me, and there would have been nothing I could have done. It's not the first time it happened either. Pathetic."

"You know, I work with victims every day, and the one thing it takes the longest time to accept is that it wasn't their fault. It's the same for us, believe me." She gave him a tiny, sad smile before continuing. "We're not invincible, as much as we'd like to think we are."

Morgan's eyes were focused in the distance, but he nodded. He'd heard the same thing before. Little did Olivia know how true that statement was for Morgan.

"Doesn't make it hurt any less."

"No, but does that mean it's worth it to stop helping people since we might let them down because of something we couldn't prevent?"

Morgan met her eyes and held them before a smile crossed his face. He shook his head and chuckled softly.

"You really are good at this."

"I know," she agreed with a grin.

"Get some sleep."

Olivia nodded and lowered herself back down to try and rest.

0~0~0~0

Morgan was awake the rest of the night, which stayed rather quiet. Rossi twisted and turned a few times but never woke. JJ drifted in and out, but when she was awake she didn't even notice that Morgan was as well. He was perfectly fine with that.

Hotch and Emily slept much less peacefully. Their uneasiness was obvious even to Morgan. His boss' face was pinched with pain. It was possible that he was crying too. Certainly wouldn't surprise Morgan. Once in awhile he heard Hotch call out to Jack or Haley. Watching Emily was even worse. Her arms were crossed over her body as if to protect herself, and her face was contorted in pain and fear. The most Morgan could pick out of what she said was no, repeated over and over again. More often than not it was unintelligible moaning until it turned into more.

Around seven that morning Emily started screaming. Olivia woke with a moan, rolling over.

"What's going on?"

"Emily," Morgan answered as the others woke as well.

Emily continued screaming and began clawing at her chest over the brand Doyle had given her. Hotch had to pull his chain as far as he could to reach her. He pulled Emily's hands away from her skin so she wouldn't hurt herself. His touch snapped Emily awake. At first she panicked and tried to pull away, but Hotch was quickly able to calm her.

0~0~0~0

Olivia remained surprisingly calm as they waited for Bill to come in. She knew what was coming, and she dreaded it with every fiber of her being. Even so, she refused to show any of her fear. Only Morgan, who had heard her cry out in her sleep, knew what she was really feeling. The others could only suspect. Olivia remained strong and unflinching to their eyes.

The other agents appeared far more haggard than she did. Without much sleep, their eyes were shadowed and their faces drawn. It had been a rough night, and there was more to come. Since only one person was left to "test" they didn't have a lot of time remaining. The question was, what would happen when Bill was through with them?

0~0~0~0

Bill wandered down the hallway to his lab feeling happier than he had in a long while. It didn't matter that the police may be putting pieces together and closing in on him. He would be done after today when he culminated his experiment with the detective. The thought of watching her squirm in her sleep brought a Cheshire-like smile to his face.

"Good morning!" he greeted one of his aides as he walked by. "And it is such a good morning. A very~ good morning!"

He grabbed his aide's arms and spun him in a circle before releasing him and walking off. There was work to be done, and he was really looking forward to it. Bill sauntered into his lab, whistling happily to himself as he did. After a quick check of all of his calculations, he was sure that he was ready to offer his little detective his best.

Satisfied, Bill started preparing the proper mix of drugs. It was hard to keep himself from getting too excited and daydreaming about what Olivia would go through. Only reminding himself that distraction would destroy the exact thing he was looking forward to allowed him to focus and stay on task. She deserved his very best, and that best didn't stop at just the calculations.

Once he had the syringe ready, Bill prepared his bag with everything he would need. After he'd double checked that he had everything, he headed out. The fun was about to begin.

0~0~0~0

Olivia shifted uneasily while she waited. The others were busy discussing options and strategies, but she was mostly tuning them out. If she just let the words wash over her it was easy enough not to think about anything. She had half an eye on the door, needing to know when Bill was going to walk in so she could prepare herself. Movement in her periphery caught her attention, and she whipped her head toward the door.

"Whoa, easy," Morgan soothed, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was just changing positions."

A tendril of terror eased from her, and she settled back against the wall.

"You want to tell me about it?" Morgan asked once Olivia had remained silent for a short time.

"No, I'll be fine." No, she wouldn't, but she had to keep saying it anyway.

Olivia had been so focused on denying her fear to Morgan that she hadn't noticed the shift in light beneath the door that signaled Bill's arrival. When she heard the door click open she nearly jumped out of her skin and barely had time to recover and lock down her emotions before Bill flounced in.

"Are you all ready for the main event?" He called out enthusiastically, ignoring the hard stares he received in return. "I tried to find party hats for all of us, but no luck I'm afraid. I did, however, find _this_."

He pulled out a party noisemaker like the ones used on New Year's or little kids' birthday parties. When he blew into it, the headache inducing honking noise filled the room. As the sound died out Bill turned his attention to Olivia.

"Well, Detective Benson, you know the drill."

Olivia did, and she wanted desperately not to follow it. What she wanted didn't matter though. She was just as trapped as Morgan had been even if Bill hadn't voiced the threat this time. Grabbing onto her fraying strands of willpower, she placed her hands behind her back. As he set everything up for her, Bill kept up a running babble that Olivia mostly ignored. Face set, she continued to stare past him.

When he requested her arm, Olivia's breath hitched. She had to quickly stamp down on her emotions to stop herself from panicking. Bill noticed and patted her cheek reassuringly, which only heightened Olivia's strain.

"Don't get too excited now. You'll ruin~ the good part."

Olivia was about to snap back a retort when she felt the needle slide into her arm. The realization that her time was up almost sent her into a tailspin. She clung desperately to her self control, praying she could stay awake long enough after to give Morgan the message she now knew needed to be shared. If she didn't, she may never come out of the dream.

Wide eyed, Olivia could only stare at Bill as he continued to talk to her. She didn't hear a thing besides the intense rushing in her ears. As Bill walked away, Olivia strained to keep her trembling under control. Morgan picked up on it since it was the first time she'd shown any sign of real fear. When the door clicked shut it snapped Olivia out of her trance. Her head whipped toward Morgan and she met his eyes with her own frantic ones.

"You have to tell me this isn't Sealview when I wake up."

"I…" Morgan began, not understanding what she was talking about but willing to do it.

"It's not Sealview!" she insisted, her words snapping with force.

"I got it! Okay? I promise."

He met her eyes firmly to prove what he was saying, but she already seemed to be fading.

* * *

Author's Note: I decided to up the rating for the next chapter just to be safe. Heads up to all of you that this is now going to be under M unfortunately.


	21. Chapter 21 Hell With A Prison

Chapter Twenty One – Hell With A Prison

Author's Note: Olivia's dream is from the episode Undercover (9x15), obviously from SVU, not Criminal Minds. This is the chapter that pushes the T rating. Like I mentioned at first, I tried not to write anything explicit. Just enough for everyone to understand what is really going on. I decided to up the rating just to be safe. If you don't want to risk it, feel free to skip the chapter (or the last half of the last section where it gets bad). It's just a dream after all.

* * *

"_Katrina Rey Lewis, you are hereby sentenced to Sealview Correctional Facility."_

_The courtroom Olivia was standing in suddenly became deathly silent. She saw the judge wave goodbye a moment before she felt the ground beneath her feet suddenly give way. With a startled yelp she fell through the trap door into darkness. _

_When light returned again, a huge building loomed in front of her surrounded by a chain-link fence and barbed wire. It sent a sick, sinking feeling through Olivia, and she reached instinctively for a gun that she didn't have. Not that it would have mattered since her hands were cuffed to her waist._

_She stumbled her way through the halls along with the other orange jumpsuit clad prisoners. The concrete felt like ice under her hands as she pressed them there and spread her legs for the search. As the guard's hands trailed over her body she fought down the revulsion and managed to keep her irritation in check. At least she did until she felt a hand suddenly cupping her butt._

"_Someone's been working out."_

_With a growl, Olivia grabbed his arm and spun him around to put him in an arm lock. She felt a momentary surge of pride before everything spun uncontrollably. When she could finally determine up from down again she was sprawled on the ground. Warm blood was trickling down her right arm which still tingled and throbbed from the blow of a nightstick._

_As Olivia was dragged to her feet by the prison captain, she felt uneasiness roll through her. Lowell Harris was an average looking guard. Tall, white, with green eyes and a dark mustache. Nothing about him stood out as worrisome, but still her skin crawled for a reason she didn't understand. Before she could think more on it, he'd released her arm and disappeared, leaving her in the infirmary._

_Her eyes locked on the covered body on the other side of the room as the nurse bandaged her arm._

"_Risa Tyler."_

_The name drifted softly to her, and she shivered. Risa was part of the reason Olivia was here, and she was dead. Olivia's world wavered again, the room fading and dripping down like watercolors. For a moment everything was pure white. _

_Sound came back before color. The quiet murmuring of voices in a confined space. When the colors formed into something recognizable, Olivia realized she was in the mess hall with all of the other inmates. The second she'd sat down she felt a hand lock around her arm. Swiveling in her seat, she spotted the guard that had grabbed her butt on entry._

"_Get up, fish. You're coming with me."_

_A flicker of trepidation ran through her, but she refused to allow it to show. Instead she flat out refused. Before the guard could even raise a voice of protest, a cacophony of voices rang out, all demanding the same thing. What was going on that had them all in lockdown? _

_Olivia rode the wave of her fellow inmates. It was a wave that grew in force and number until it became an all out riot. As punches were thrown and shielded guards rushed in to break it up, Olivia was slammed into a table and cuffed. A moment later she was handed over to Harris and informed she was going to the hole._

0~0~0~0

Morgan watched Olivia closely, but so far she seemed okay. Her heart rate had spiked a few times then slowed soon after.

"For how much she panicked, I was expecting more," he admitted.

"She seemed pretty sure she knew what would happen," Emily replied. "Maybe it just hasn't started yet?"

Morgan shrugged and turned his gaze back to Olivia. When another thought occurred to him, he once more addressed the team.

"Anyone heard of Sealview?"

When he received all negatives in response he frowned. That wasn't going to help him.

0~0~0~0

_The trek down to the hole varied immensely. Sometimes the dull stairwells were too bright even to look at. Other times they were full of shadows slowly creeping forward. Olivia had quickly realized they weren't heading to the hole. They were heading to the basement. Fear fluttered through her as she was led past a chain-link fence and various storage supplies._

_When they came to a stop, Olivia spotted when had once been a white mattress, now gray with stains, resting against the wall. The entire room was dark with shadows, yet the mattress stood out clearly in a single spotlight. There was nothing she could do to get out of this mess. The walls seemed to close in on her, and all of the air rushed from her lungs. She knew the answer to the question, but she couldn't stop herself from asking._

"_What do you want?"_

_Olivia felt her chin suddenly grasped in Harris' hand as he pressed his face almost against hers. Her skin crawled, but she was too shocked to try and pull away._

"_What every guy wants, and you're going to give it to me." _

_The next thing she knew she was flying through the air to land on the mattress. His sudden weight bearing down on her legs when he straddled them made her scream. If there was ever a time Olivia wished the floor would open up on her like it had at the courthouse, it was now. Olivia screamed again and again until Harris' lips closed over hers in a kiss. Her lips were burning, but with her hands cuffed behind her back she could do nothing._

_At first her repeated screams of "please don't" reverberated only through her head. When Harris released her lips, Olivia couldn't be sure if her screaming became audible or not. She only cared that she had somehow been pinned to the wall. Harris was pressing his body against hers. Olivia could feel how excited he was as he continued to hold his hips to hers._

_There was no escape. And then she heard the click of the cuffs and the pressure on one wrist decreased. Gathering all of her strength, Olivia elbowed Harris and punched him in the face. As she took off running, the litany of "I will not be a victim" fueled her and drove her through her terror. She ducked down behind some boxes, heart pounding._

_It felt like hours had passed as she waited. Suddenly she heard Harris run his nightstick along the chain-link fence. It was like a rattle snake shaking in a warning and ready to strike. A promise that he would find her, and she wouldn't like what happened when he did. Olivia couldn't see him through the darkness, but she spotted his flashlight illuminating the areas he searched. Each time he knocked over plastic chairs, shelves, or boxes Olivia flinched away. As each went down, the basement grew smaller, condensing on one location. Hers._

_Suddenly he shattered the boxes she was hiding behind, revealing her in full light. Blood tricked from a cut under his left eye._

"_Guess whose ass is mine now."_

_Olivia felt like she'd just been stabbed through the chest and pinned in place. So she held up her hands in surrender. Harris' weapon flashed through the space between them in a blur before colliding with her stomach and then her back. Olivia almost fell, but she refused to be beaten. After hitting him in the balls, she took off running once more._

_She raced for the barred gray door that would free her from this nightmare. At first she didn't seem to be getting any closer, but suddenly, she was there, banging on the door and screaming for help. Out of nowhere she felt a fist connect with her face. Olivia stumbled and before she was able to prevent it, she was cuffed to the bars of the door. Trapped, Olivia dropped into a squat and couldn't contain her whimpers._

_Olivia should have been expecting to hear the zipper, but when she did it startled her. She could only stare in horror as Harris pulled himself free of his pants and stared down at her with a tiny smirk._

"_You bite me, you're dead."_

_A shiver ran through her and she whimpered again. There was no doubt in her mind he was capable of killing her. When his hands clamped to either side of her head and forced her face within inches of his bared body a few tears slid down her cheeks. She could feel the tip of him pressing against her lips, hot with the desire to enter. Completely against her will, her mouth opened._

_Olivia watched as the mole she never should have seen drew closer until it disappeared into her mouth along with the rest of him. His hands twined into her hair and pulled her tight against him, making her gag. Again the world around Olivia faded until all that existed was the feeling of him inside her mouth. She couldn't breathe. His words drifted to her, mostly sounds of pleasure of encouragement. She wanted to push them away and lock herself somewhere where she wouldn't know anything, but she couldn't. The feeling of him filling her mouth kept coming._

_Just when she thought she couldn't possibly take any more there was a sharp new taste on her tongue. A moment later, Harris released her and pulled away. Olivia coughed desperately, wanting to get rid of the part of him he'd left behind. Soon enough she was sobbing and crumpled on the ground._

_The room suddenly spun and she found herself on her back with the dirty mattress beneath her. Harris' hands were at the waistband of her pants. Olivia knew what was coming, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even move a finger._

_Where was Fin? Why wasn't he here to help her? She hadn't been strong enough to protect herself, and now she was going to pay for it._

"_You should have expected this to happen. After all, it's where you belong. It's where you came from."_

_She froze, completely unable to process what had just been said. Ice had been shot through her veins and clenched at her heart with his words. Had she somehow done something to bring this on herself? Rape was a piece of her that she could never get rid of. She'd convinced herself, mostly at least, that it wasn't obvious on the outside, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was marked somehow._

_Her pants were gone and Olivia could feel Harris' hot breath on her cheek as he bent over her. Then he was inside of her, and the only thing she knew was pain and despair._


	22. Chapter 22 Call My Name

Chapter Twenty Two – Call My Name

Olivia's cries and pleading requests of "please don't" had been tearing at Morgan. Her screams of "help me" had only been worse. For a short time the only thing Morgan heard was quiet little whimpers. Then, out of no where, she was screaming.

"Olivia!"

She showed no sign of hearing Morgan. The only thing the agents could do was watch as she thrashed around on her back.

"Come on. Come on!" Morgan growled, needing her to wake up so he could at least do _something_.

A few minutes later Olivia woke with a strangled gasp. She jerked upright, dark eyes wide with panic. Morgan reached out in an attempt to soothe her and brushed his fingers across her arm. The light touch terrified Olivia, and she yanked back out of reach. Her sudden movement had caused the chains to rattle. The sound was all too familiar, and she flinched away. That only caused the cuff on her wrist to press against her skin. The combination of the cuff and the sound of the chains sent her spiraling out of control.

She pressed her back against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest and legs crossed at the ankles to provide extra protection. Olivia started shaking her head back and forth and wrapped her arms around herself. She was holding on so desperately that her nails were digging into the skin of her arms and making them bleed.

"No, no, no, no, no."

Morgan was startled by Olivia's violent reaction, and it took him a second to order his thoughts enough to try and help her. She was so lost in the terror of her dream that Morgan wasn't sure she was fully awake even if her eyes were open.

"Olivia, listen to me! Listen to me, baby girl. This isn't Sealview! Do you hear me? It's not Sealview."

She didn't seem to hear him though, and her eyes continued to dart around frantically as if waiting for something or _someone_ to slide out of the shadows and come after her. As Morgan continued to use numerous variations of the same phrase to hopefully reach Olivia, the other agents watched worriedly.

"Hotch, look at her," Emily whispered. "Look at the way she'd holding herself. Legs crossed and pulled up tight like that. I can only think of one reason a woman would do that."

Hotch was thinking the same thing and provided more evidence to prove their theory.

"The way she jerked back after being touched by Morgan? It's a classic exaggerated reaction to touch that a rape victim exhibits."

Emily watched Olivia, her eyes flickering with deep sadness. No woman deserved to be used that way. Hotch's voice drew Emily back out of her thoughts.

"The only question now is whether she was raped in reality or if that part was only in the dream."

0~0~0~0

"Olivia, I swear to you this isn't Sealview. It's not. Olivia, please. Trust me."

The words drifted softly to Olivia, sounding muffled and far away. She didn't want to listen to them. She didn't want to listen to anything. All she wanted to do was find a little room inside herself where she could hide away and forget the pain. But the pain wouldn't leave her alone, and the voice wasn't helping.

"You're not at Sealview. Olivia, let me help you! Olivia!"

Olivia. Not her undercover name. Not Kat. _Olivia._

0~0~0~0

Morgan watched as some of the too bright glassiness faded from Olivia's eyes and recognition slowly appeared. He grinned in relief. Finally! Finally he'd gotten through.

"This isn't Sealview, okay, Olivia?" he asked, repeating the message once more to make sure she truly heard it.

Olivia swallowed hard and nodded her head vigorously. It was far too jerky to be considered a normal response, but Morgan accepted it anyway. She'd at least heard him and understood what he'd said. Keeping his eyes locked on Olivia, Morgan spoke gently. She still looked skittish, and he didn't want to make any sudden moves.

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do, but I want to help you. I can't do that unless you come closer though. Do you think you can do that?"

Olivia watched him uneasily, evaluating the request from every angle. When she finally spoke, her voice was scratchy from screaming and barely above a whisper.

"Yes, just keep saying my name."

Morgan was a bit confused by the request, but he was more than willing to follow it.

"Alright, Olivia. I can do that."

Once again Olivia nodded. After taking a deep breath she slowly started to unfold herself. She crept toward Morgan, her body trembling. It was only Morgan's repeated assurances and his constant use of her name that kept her going. When she reached the end of her chain it jerked on her wrist and rattled once more. Olivia whimpered, immediately flashing back to the basement causing a tear to run down her face and drip off her chin.

"Olivia, it's going to be okay."

Using her name to anchor herself in the present, Olivia lifted her eyes to Morgan's.

"Can I touch you?" Morgan asked, continuing when he saw her balk. "Just on the shoulder. That's all."

She nodded and tried to force herself to relax. As his hand drew closer to her, she couldn't help tensing. When his hand landed lightly on her shoulder Olivia trembled visibly, but she stayed put.

"I'm right here, Olivia."

Slowly Olivia's shuddering breaths eased. To Morgan's surprise, she reached up to hold tightly to his wrist with both hands. She wasn't causing him pain, but it definitely wasn't a light grip. Then Olivia dropped her head down so her forehead was resting against his arm. She stayed that way, taking deep, controlled breaths. Morgan knew exactly what she was doing, and it impressed him. When he'd come out of his own dream, Olivia had had to make him mirror her breathing to get him to calm down. Now she was doing it on her own without any prompting.

Olivia remained clinging to Morgan for awhile, not moving an inch. Morgan was worried about her, but he could hear the overly regulated breaths she was taking. He reached out with his free hand, intending to rest it comfortingly on her head, and hesitated. His eyes searched out Hotch's. After receiving a nod of agreement from Hotch that he too thought a light touch would be okay, Morgan lowered his hand.

His fingers had just brushed her hair when Olivia flinched. Morgan immediately pulled away and waited until her hitched breathing slowed again. This time he warned her before placing his hand on her head again.

"It's okay."

Olivia breathed out a heavy sigh and remained still. Morgan smiled and gently stroked her hair in an effort to help her. It seemed to work as Olivia's grip on his wrist loosened.

JJ watched Olivia in silence and shook her head in amazement. She and Rossi had come to the same conclusion as Emily and Hotch had. Considering what Olivia did for a living, JJ wasn't incredibly surprised Olivia had been dreaming about rape.

"She's so calm. It's amazing," JJ murmured.

"I'm not sure I would call it calm. More controlled."

JJ pondered Rossi's description for a moment before nodding. That was exactly what it appeared to be. She was taking what she had seen in stride and doing what she needed to in order to stay in one piece. From what JJ could tell, she was still in one piece too. Cracked perhaps, but still holding together.

"I've met a lot of law enforcement officers in our job," JJ told Rossi softly, "but she's one of the strongest I've seen. We're going through hell together as a team. She's doing it all alone."

"Not completely, but yes. There's a difference between her and us."

And he agreed with JJ. Olivia's control was impressive. Incredibly impressive.

And what was more Olivia had received far worse torment than any of them besides Morgan. And even then, perhaps not.

* * *

Author's Note: The last chapter is tomorrow, so be ready for the conclusion!


	23. Chapter 23 The Step Beyond

Chapter Twenty Three – The Step Beyond

Olivia slowly lifted her head from Morgan's arm and dropped her hands from his wrist. She was still pale but looked much better than she had.

"You okay?" Morgan asked.

Olivia shook her head weakly, fighting tears. "Not really."

Morgan wasn't all that surprised by her answer. He hesitated for a moment, debating whether he should ask what he wanted to. It would bring back everything she'd just suffered if he did. She noticed and watched him intently, silently giving him permission to ask.

"What's Sealview? Why was saying your name so important?"

Olivia bowed her head, looking pained. She hadn't shared what had happened in the basement of Sealview with anyone besides her therapist. Fin had been down there, but even he didn't know the full story. After all this time, she still wasn't sure she could share more than surface details, and she knew she couldn't share any of her fears about her father.

"Sealview is a women's prison in New York. I went undercover there to find the guard that was raping the inmates."

Short, unemotional, and to the point. She continued bitterly.

"I found him."

Olivia dropped her head and a few tears escaped her control and snaked down her cheeks.

"Did he…?" Morgan trailed off, not wanting to say the words.

Before Olivia could even begin to form a coherent answer, which would have taken awhile since she was having trouble determining what was only dream and not memory, Bill strutted in. He had a big smile on his face and seemed particularly pleased with himself.

"Oh, don't not answer because of little old me!" he insisted. "The agents were kind enough to fill me in on what they thought happened~. Unknowingly~ of course."

His hand fluttered about in a "it doesn't matter" type of motion before he dropped it and stared at Olivia with shining eyes.

"So, tell me, tell me. Were you raped?"

Olivia gasped and was sent hurtling into the dark abyss where she felt unclean and vulnerable. His eyes pinned her. His hands were all over her. His body was pressed up against her. She couldn't escape. Before she had even realized what she was doing, Olivia found herself standing and swinging at him, yelling incoherently. That wasn't like her at all. Her rage slowed, and she stared at Bill, horror stricken. Had she just…? Yes, she had.

The image of Harris' face flashed into her mind again, only this time the features were distorted. It took her a moment to realize how. His face had suddenly taken on characteristics of her own.

Apparently her genes didn't just make her a target; they also made her the attacker. The one that could lose control and destroy another life. If she hadn't been chained, how far would she have gone? Her darkest fears simply laughed at her. It wasn't even a question of how far. She knew the answer to that. With a pained whimper, she collapsed to the ground.

Morgan growled angrily when he saw Olivia shatter. She curled in on herself, crying and repeatedly mumbling "no" and "help me." Unable to stand it, Morgan whirled on the unsub.

"You son of a bitch! You knew that was going to destroy her and you purposefully said it anyway!"

"No, no. I was testing~ a theory~. It's different~."

He smiled warmly at Morgan, the man's anger sliding right off of him. Paying Morgan no more regard than he would an ant, Bill headed toward Olivia. When he reached out to pull the monitor from her she screamed and started clawing at his arms, eyes rimmed white from her terror.

"Hey! Knock that off, you!"

When Olivia didn't, he huffed and scowled down at her as the heart monitor blared.

"Fine. Be that way. We'll just have to do it the hard way."

He grabbed the monitor and pulled hard until it peeled off her skin. Olivia whimpered, trembling visibly.

"Well, my dear detective~, I had a lot more to say to you, but alas, you're in no condition to hear me."

He sighed and shook his head like it was such a tragedy. Spinning away from her, Bill bowed to the others in the room.

"It was such~ a pleasure~ to meet all of you, and I thank you for your service. Always remember~ that you have contributed significantly to science!"

With one final wave he disappeared from the room, leaving only the sound of Olivia's sobs in his wake.

0~0~0~0

Emily kept her eyes firmly fixed on Olivia once Bill had left the room. She'd picked up on something curious earlier, but it wouldn't be right to discuss it in front of Olivia. After all, it was about her. So Emily waited until she was sure Olivia was too separated from everything else before she turned to Hotch. Making sure to keep her voice down low just in case, she shared her observation.

"What did you make of her reaction after Bill called her out on the rape?"

Hotch's eyes flickered to Emily and he frowned a moment. It hadn't been a fully abnormal reaction. He understood attacking your accuser, especially after everything they'd all been through. Nerves were frayed and tempers were easy to set off. The odd part in Olivia's behavior came after. She'd looked utterly distraught over attacking him.

"I would say it would make sense if it came from a person with anger problems who is trying to control them, but Olivia doesn't strike me as that type of person. Rage is in everyone if you pinpoint the right spot. There has to be a deeper reason for her reaction."

"Like she hadn't been expecting herself to do that? She didn't seem very coherent when she did."

"No, she didn't. It was like she saw some part of herself she feared was always hidden. That anger. The question would be why. Something in her past that gave her that idea."

Emily nodded but didn't share any of the possibilities. She knew Hotch was aware of all of the ones she could come up with without her needing to say anything. They were at a dead end though. Unless Olivia gave them more clues, all they could really do was guess at the source.

0~0~0~0

"We are never getting out of here," Morgan growled furiously.

"He's done with us, and we aren't dead yet," Rossi pointed out. "That's a good sign."

Though how long they would remain that way he didn't know. There really was no chance of coming up with a plan either. With the unsub listening in they would have to either talk in code or create separate plans.

"Rossi," JJ whispered, drawing his attention. "He might have his guard down around me. If we can get him close enough, I might be able to knock him out."

She'd kept her voice low enough that she hoped whatever monitoring devices Bill was using to listen in wouldn't be able to pick it up. Rossi nodded. He knew what JJ was capable of doing. Plus, she was right. The unsub would likely underestimate her.

"If you do, you're only going to have one shot. If he doesn't go down the first time…"

"I know," JJ responded, determination flickering in her eyes.

There was no way of sharing the plan with the others, but Rossi knew Hotch, Morgan, and Emily would pick up on what he was trying to do if he gave the right clues when Bill returned. If it didn't work, the only thing they would be able to do was buy time for Reid. None of them doubted he was still looking for them and wouldn't stop until they were found. Of course, they could do nothing to help him aside from giving him the best chance to figure out where they were, which was time. Just like Rossi's and JJ's plan though, it wasn't guaranteed to work. Hopefully they wouldn't need to worry about plan B and JJ would be able to take Bill down.

0~0~0~0

Only Bill didn't return. After hours of waiting, his prisoners had fallen into silence. Plans of escape had long ago been fleshed out as much as they could be. Without that to focus on, the only thing left was the remnants of their nightmares.

Rossi remained relatively quiet and listened to JJ talk about Henry. How big he was getting, what they had done together recently, what she still wanted to do with him. From time to time he would ask a question, usually when she fell silent. He could see how much she was using the conversation as a distraction, and when it lagged the signs of her soul shattering terror returned to her eyes.

His own nightmares weren't anywhere near JJ's. The case he'd dreamed about was over. While the case JJ had seen was also long over, her fears for Henry were not. They had been buried within her ever since he was born, and the dream had brought them to the forefront and shown her how real a possibility they were. If distraction was what helped her, Rossi would provide it.

Hotch and Emily had fallen into an unspoken agreement to simply by there for each other. They sat as close as their chains would allow, but neither said a word. Both knew what the other was going through and there were no words of sympathy or comfort that could make any of it better. Instead they remained in their own thoughts most of the time, figuring out how to deal with reopened wounds. Considering neither one was much for asking for help, it worked well.

Morgan and Olivia were spending their time the same way. The only difference was it hadn't been agreed upon. Olivia had become increasingly withdrawn since Bill had left the room. After her second round of panic had faded, Morgan had coaxed her into talking. That had slowed to his talking and her providing short answers, then one word ones, and finally nothing. She'd pulled away to the end of her chain and sat unmoving.

He desperately wanted to help her. While his own dream had been devastating when he first woke up, the simple fact that he was alive proved what he'd suffered hadn't been reality. When the guilt over Ellie crept up on him and started gnawing on his conscience a few firm reminders of where Ellie was now and that she was okay usually did the trick. At least enough to allow him not to dwell on it for the time being.

Besides, right now Olivia needed him. If only he could find a way to get her to let him in.

But Olivia didn't even know he was trying. She felt like a hollowed out version of herself. Empty. Worthless. Lost. Everything that had happened was too difficult to deal with, so she'd pulled away and remained staring at nothing. For her, everything she had suffered wasn't a dream. It was real and painful and suffocating. Unable to escape it, her only option was to disassociate or else it would crush her. If it didn't anyway. She could feel the weight of it bearing down on her, and she shuddered. Maybe not escaping here would be alright.

She vaguely heard Morgan's voice telling her she was going to get through this, that it would just take time. Tuning him out, she retreated once more to the box she'd built inside her head. There she didn't have to think, didn't have to feel. She didn't have to taste him on her tongue or hear his words. It was just white nose, sweet and blissful.

Yet even through that box she heard the quiet whispers inside of her, reminding her who she was. Olivia tried to ignore them, as she usually did, but her defenses had long ago crumbled. Nobody was exactly like their parents, but everyone has some similarities. That meant even if she wasn't her father completely, some of him would come out in her. Whatever that was, it wouldn't be good. How could it be?

0~0~0~0

None of them knew how much time had passed since the door to their cell had last opened. Awhile probably, since they were all starving and stiff. At first the new sounds that filtered through the door to them didn't mean anything. JJ and Rossi were the first to notice the difference. Running, hurried footsteps weren't normal. Neither were frantic shouts.

Hope blossomed across JJ's face, lighting up her eyes.

"You don't think…?"

Just from the look of excitement on Rossi's face, she knew he agreed.

"Aaron, listen," Rossi insisted as he nodded toward the door where the sounds continued.

Hotch pulled himself to his feet, ready and waiting. All but Olivia followed suit. One way or another, their captivity was coming to an end. The next word that reached them snapped with power and authority.

"FBI!"

The sound, obviously from another member of law enforcement, sent joy spiking through all of them. Even Olivia glanced up, though her eyes were still dull. It was over. Help was here, and they were safe. Soon they would also be free and able to walk out of the room that had been their own personal hell for days. The only thing left after that would be to face the resurfaced demons from their worst nightmares. It would take time and effort to put them to rest once more, but it was possible.

A possibility that they would fight for until it was reached. None of them would allow themselves to be beaten in the end. It was simply what they did and who they were.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, there you go. That's the end! Thanks to all of you reviewers. I actually like this story a little more than I did when I first finished it thanks to you guys. You probably won't get anything from me for a little while as I've hit a bit of a block on the whole writing thing. I do have a story from a new fandom started, but I haven't gone back to it in weeks... I'm hoping I will find some inspiration on vacation and get that finished. At some point I'm sure I'll go back to the remaining ideas I have for CM and SVU stories, but it might take some time. Thank you all for reading!


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